Lest We Lose Our Edens

by Lia Faile

Eden Advance must rescue Danziger from an avenging Gaal.

AUTHOR'S NOTES:After "Survival Of The Fittest" (Day 117)

Lest We Lose Our Edens

by

Lia Faile

When the apple reddens

Never pry-

Lest we lose our Edens,

Eve and I.

"A Woman's Last Word" by Robert Browning

------------------------------------------------------------------

Alonzo jerked awake. Shivering, he blinked several times and inhaled

deeply. His actions woke his companion. A sleepy Dr. Heller lifted her

head from his chest and peered at him in the eerie glow of the dual

moonlight. Her palm rested on his chest and she could feel the hammering

of his heart beneath it. Awake and concerned now, she slid her hand up in

an unconscious motion to his throat as if she wore her diagnostic glove.

"What's wrong?"

Alonzo reacted as if he'd just now noticed the woman he held in his arms.

A woman he didn't recognize. Slowly he began to come back to himself and

remembered where he was. Licking the sweat off his upper lip, he tried to

reply but his voice was strained and hoarse as if he'd been screaming.

"I don't know...I thought I was...someplace else."

"You were dreaming."

"No, it wasn't like the other dreams. There weren't any Terrians there. It

wasn't like before."

Julia slide her hand up along his cheek to his forehead and gently

brushed the hair and sweat from his brow. Looking into those eyes she saw

fear and uncertainty. Emotions they all were becoming all to familiar with

on this new world.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Alonzo shook his head, closed his eyes and tried to fight back the

stinging tears that suddenly welled up. When he reopened them he gazed at

Julia through a distorted watery haze. Seeing all the love and concern for

him reflected in her blue eyes caused several tears to spill over and run

down his cheeks.

"Alonzo! What's wrong? *Talk* to me."

Alonzo didn't reply. He grabbed her convulsively and pulled her to him

and held her like she was a life preserver. He buried his face in the soft

crook of her neck. Julia felt his hot tears hit her bare shoulder and then

run down to where they pooled in between her breasts.

"There was so much *blood* Julia! I...I couldn't stop it! And the

laughing!"

"Shhh...shhh. It's okay. It was just a nightmare. Shhh...shhh. Go to

sleep."

Julia kept repeating this softly as she rocked him gently in her arms.

Hugging him tightly to her, she stroked his head with one hand and his

back with the other. He said a few more garbled sentences but she ignored

them. Her priority right now was to calm him down.

There was time later for questions. Something told her it would be better

to examine this dream in the bright light of day--away from any shadows.

Because Terrians or no Terrians any dream, or nightmare for that matter,

that Alonzo Solace had was important. Here on G889 they had learned that

dreams could come true. And if dreams could, why couldn't nightmares?

~*~

True was suppose to be out gathering kindling wood, but she was doing

more daydreaming than anything else. The winter finally seemed to be

ending. The days were getting longer and warmer. Most of the snow had

receded, although deep patches still remained in the areas sheltered from

the sun. Soon they could start on their way again. The dome had been a

godsend, but so many strange and terrible events had occurred here, that

she looked forward to putting some distance between it and herself.

She absently bent over to pick up a piece of wood, when a flash of color

caught her eye. It was a flower. A tiny flower so small she nearly missed

it. True bent down to examine it more closely. With her face mere inches

from the delicate bloom, she caught the first whiff of it's perfume. The

scent was indescribable, except that it made her think of her mother. She

didn't know why--she'd only ever met her mother in VR and that Eleanor

Moore had merely been a shell. She closed her eyes and sniffed again. Yes,

definitely her mother.

She would have to remember this place and bring her Dad back here to see

if he was reminded of Elle too. He'd been more open lately and had shared

some stories of Elle with her. True didn't ask too many questions though,

she saw the pain that those memories still brought to him. Both in his

eyes and in the way his voice would catch every so often. Even though he

tried to camouflage it by pretending he had a frog in his throat.

The flower was no more than three inches tall. It had three narrow petals

that had jagged edges. Its color was somewhere between fuschia and violet.

It looked so small and fragile, but it must be truly hardy to be the first

to bloom. Maybe they would name it after her! After all, *she* discovered

it! Morgan Martin couldn't have _everything_ on this planet named after

him! Yes, she would bring everyone here to see her flower. Before, True

would have hoarded this discovery to herself, too selfish to share it.

Maybe she was growing up, or at least use to the others being around.

Everybody would enjoy this first sign of spring! But first she'd show it

to her father, alone. She was still a bit selfish.

Carefully she brushed the snow and debris from around it. She was looking

around to find something to mark the spot so she could find it again. So

intent on her task that she didn't notice that she was being scrutinized

the whole time. Her observer silently glided up to her and stopped a few

feet behind her. Still she detected no sign of him.

"Hello, Poppet."

True spun around and fell backwards onto her haunches and hands. Her

heart hammered against her ribs in a desperate attempt to flee her body.

So frighten was she that her trademark scream she always had at the ready

and wielded like a sword, lodged in her constricted throat and refused to

budge. One small corner of her otherwise numbed mind screamed at her to

"RUN"! But her legs would not comply. She sat rooted to the spot staring

at a nightmare.

"You...you're...dead...."

She was finally able to stutter out.

"The news of my demise was greatly exaggerated. What's the matter...no hug

for your Uncle Gaal? Didn't you miss me...even a little?"

The lanky man held his arms open expectantly. True started to shake her

head violently in the negative and scooted backwards on her rear, when her

eyes were drawn to something Gaal held in his hand.

"That...looks like.....my Dad's coat."

Realizing he wasn't going to get a warmer welcome, he slowly lowered his

arms to his sides. He glanced down and stared at the white coat he held

bunched in his hand. When he looked up, his eyes had a vicious hobgoblin

gleam to them. Slowly a wicked half smile appeared on the side of his

mouth. One eyebrow canted upwards.

"Well, it *looks* like your father's coat because it *is* his. Oh my,

Poppet....you've crushed your flower. Pity."

True followed his gaze down to her hand. Her lovely flower laid crumbled

under her hand. It wasn't so hardy after all. Now she would never be able

to show it to anyone or have it named after herself. Slowly she lifted the

guilty hand to her face and smelt its perfume one last time. She then

glared up at Gaal and felt her fear being shoved aside by anger.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!"

Finally True's legs decided that her mind had the right idea about

getting out of there. She sprang to her feet and fled back towards camp as

fast has her wobbly legs would take her. Over her harsh gasps of breath

she could hear him laughing.

~*~

A weary Julia entered the med-tent and plopped down into the chair. She

looked around aimlessly at the various experiments, slides, and tests she

had set up and waiting. Where to start today? Sighing she massaged her

temples. She'd gotten very little sleep last night. None at all after

Alonzo's nightmare. He still refused to talk to her about it. Rather than

fighting about it, she decided to leave him alone for awhile and try

later. If he still refused to talk about it, she'd turn him over to Devon.

Devon would wear him down quick enough. Although he would be angry with

her for doing such a thing. Too sleepy to work on anything, Julia laid her

head down for a short nap.

"Give me your coordinates, Citizen."

Julia woke up in Reilly's VR rendezvous. *How the hell did she get here!*

Reilly paced around her glaring hatefully. She knew if he could he'd have

her by the throat. Even though he couldn't really harm her or touch her in

VR, Julia backed up cautiously trying to keep the pacing Watcher in her

field of vision. Slowly they began to move across the floor in a warped

ballet.

"NO! I won't help you!"

"You have a responsibility to the Council!"

"I have a responsibility to my *friends*!"

"You're supposed to have had these emotional tendencies bred out of you."

"I'm not your puppet anymore, Reilly!"

"I *will* have that boy! You are only delaying the inevitable and hurting

yourself in the process. Think of the Big Picture!"

"Go to HELL!"

Julia woke up with a start. Forced her fingers to unlock from the edge of

the table they'd been clutching. She expelled a long breath of air. What

brought that on, she wondered. Guess Alonzo wasn't the only one

susceptible to nightmares. She brushed the hair that had escaped from its

binding away from her face. Absently she stuck her hand in her pocket and

felt a tingling sensation. Her hand closed around a tiny object.

Drawing it out with a sense of trepidation, she examined the object in

her hand. It was a small silver capsule and it was vibrating. Her hands

trembled as she pulled gently on its ends. A familiar female mechanical

voice made a demand she thought she'd never have to hear again.

"Respond Immediately."

Julia dropped the communicator onto the table top, where it rolled off

onto the floor. She tried to stand up, but the planet seemed to lurch

beneath her feet causing her to stumble back into the chair. She clasped

her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. A tiny moan escaped.

"Respond Immediately."

Quickly Julia snatched it up and turned it off. She stuffed it back into

her pocket and rocked back and forth in her chair. What was she going to

do?

~*~

Devon wandered about the camp in search of her wayward mechanic. Neither

he or True were in their quarters. She wanted to go over the schedule for

ending their sojourn here and resuming the trek to New Pacifica. She

needed to know the status of the vehicles. She caught sight of Cameron

lugging a heavy box across camp. The man was always moving something she

thought, mouth quirking up on one corner. If only the rest of the Eden

Advance men were so easy going as Cameron, Devon's job would be a lot

easier! Course, Cameron's easy going style is what prompted her to sign

him on for the original colony set-up team.

"Cameron! You seen Danziger around?"

Cameron turned and smiled at Devon. Shaking his head negatively he

replied,

"No, ma'am. I haven't recently. You might try Walman or Baines, they were

talking with him first thing this morning. They're over there still

fiddling with the perimeter sensors."

Raising her hand in a friendly farewell wave, Devon started to head off in

the direction he'd indicated. Then had an afterthought and turned back

around to him.

"By the way, Cameron, 'Devon' is sufficient. No need for the 'ma'am' stuff

here. Like Danziger is so fond of pointing out...I'm not the boss

anymore."

Cameron frowned at her attempt at light humor. He took her statement

seriously, not in the joking manner she had intended.

"He doesn't show you enough respect...Devon. You financed this venture,

gathered the people, and have kept us together. You are the leader here.

He should keep that in mind when he challenges you in front of everyone.

People are starting to question your abilities."

Before she could response, Devon saw Walman and Baines emerging from the

nearby woods. She waved her hand wildly and hollered for their attention.

"Hey guys! Come here, a sec!"

Walman and Baines stopped, exchanged looks, and ambled over her way

unhurriedly. Devon had been noticing a lot of looks being passed around

lately. Until Cameron's comments though, she'd been too preoccupied to

wonder about them. Now she started to. Maybe she should have a word with

Danziger.

"Yeah, Devon. What can we do for you?" Walman asked, flashing his dimpled

smile her way.

"Have you guys seen Danziger? I wanted to go over the plans for breaking

camp here permanently with him."

"Nah, haven't seen him all morning." Baines volunteered not meeting her

gaze.

"But Cameron says he saw him with you two earlier by the sensors."

Walman and Baines both fixed Cameron with a hard glare. Cameron returned

it steadily but clutched the box he was toting closer to himself like a

shield.

"Well? I'm waiting gentlemen."

"Oh yeah, right. This morning. He said something about rechecking the

route down the mountain once more."

"He left camp?! *Again*?!! Damn him! I bet he doesn't have his gear on

either!" She fumed as she fumbled with her own set. "How dare you keep

this from me!"

Cameron decided now would be a good time to finish his original chore and

leave Walman and Baines to the verbal dressing down Devon was winding up

to give them. The two men gave Cameron a promising wait till later stare.

"DEVON! DEVON! EVERYONE! COME QUICK!"

The initial impact of True's screeching froze everyone in place. But only

for an instant. Her high decibel ululations were migraine inducing, but

the child had yet to cry wolf. All thoughts of meal preparations or AWOL

group members were forgotten as everyone rushed to see what had True so

agitated.

Yale flew out of the dome with the others hot on his heels. True was

barreling straight towards them, arms pumping wildly and her braid flying

behind her like a jockey's whip driving her towards an imaginary finish

line. Devon knelt down on one knee and braced herself for impact. She

could tell that the girl would not be able to stop her heedless flight.

"DEVON! DEVON! HE'S HERE!"

Devon managed to avoid being knocked on her rump by the small human

missile. Holding her by the waist to steady her, Devon had never seem the

child so pale. Her eyes were so dilated with fear, her irises were barely

visible. Shudders racked the girl's small frame giving her a palsied

appearance. Her mothering instincts took over and Devon began to stroke

True's back in an attempt to comfort her.

"True, calm down. Now tell me what's wrong."

True responded to the calm authoritative voice. Normally it would have

inspired her to rebellion, but right now she was thankful for a

strong-willed adult. After taking several great gulps of air, True again

tried to warn Devon of who she'd seen.

"Ga..Gaal! It's Gaal! I saw him!"

Immediately the rest of the group exchanged looks and started to mutter

amongst themselves. Devon ignored the background distractions and

concentrated on the frighten girl in her arms.

"True, Gaal is dead. The Terrians took him. Don't you remember?"

"No! No, he's not! I *saw* him! Up there!"

She flung her arm backwards, indicating the direction she'd come from.

Devon looked where she was pointing but saw nothing. Tiny crinkles formed

as she furrowed her brow in concentration. *Something* had terrified the

girl. Returning her gaze to True, Devon gave her a soothing, reassuring

smile that usually worked on Uly.

"Now True, sometimes our eyes play funny tricks on us. Maybe you saw a

shadow, or...or even a Grendler, and your imagination turned it into

something else."

True had reached her frustration limit. Her hands that had been holding

onto Devon's shoulders balled into tight fists twisting the fabric of her

coat. Giving the woman an irritated shake, she pulled her closer and

stared icily into her eyes.

"It wasn't my imagination." She bit out through clenched teeth. "He

*spoke* to me."

True never resembled her father more than at this moment, a mesmerized

Devon thought to herself. The set of her jaw, the piercing eyes, the

flaring nostrils. Even her voice had dropped an octave in her anger. Devon

decided she better get more information from her in order to calm her

down..

"What did he say to you?"

True loosened her hold on Devon's coat. The angry little spitfire was

gone, replaced once again by the scared little girl.

"He...he called me 'Poppet' and asked me if I missed him."

Tears sprang into her eyes and her lower lip began to tremble.

"Devon, he has my dad's coat."

This last sentence was barely a choked whisper, but hit Devon like a

hammer blow between the eyes. There was no way she could be making this up

or be confused. Looking at the surrounding woods suspiciously, she stood

up and turned to Walman and Baines.

"I want a full perimeter search. Everyone else I want inside the dome."

"My dear lady, that won't be necessary. If it is me you seek, look no

farther!"

Devon spun around and instinctively shoved True behind her. For a change

the girl didn't protest. In fact, she backed up even farther. Devon

glanced over her shoulder looking for her son. She saw that he was with

Yale, and that Yale had adopted a leonine posture. Satisfied that her son

was well protected, she turned her attention back to their uninvited

"guest."

The man made a theatrical bow and doffed an imaginary cap to her. The man

was extremely gaunt. Apparently the winter had been hard on him as well.

He had a red jagged scar that ran from just below his right eye down to

his upper lip. That was new. It caused his eye to droop down and his lip

to curl up. He looked as if he were winking and snarling at the same time.

Devon also noticed he was wearing an exact duplicate of John Danziger's

winter coat. Only Danziger's didn't have a red blood stain or tear just

below the collar bone like the one Gaal was wearing did. Also a new

Terrian bone necklace dangled about his neck.

Walman and Baines armed their magpros, leveled them at Gaal and started

advancing. With no gun handy, Alonzo hefted a metal tent stake and joined

them.

"If anything unfortunate happens to me, my friends will kill your precious

mechanic."

Devon held her hand up; the men stopped and lowered their weapons.

Although they did not disarm them.

"What are you doing here, Gaal? How did you get away from the Terrians?"

"Such concern! Such interest in my well-being! It was more than I

expected! I'm really quite touched."

He held his hand to his chest and smiled lopsidedly.

"The Terrians were all set to 'put me in the earth' as they so

euphemistically like to put it. My Grendler friends didn't want to lose

their only source of human blood, so they rescued me while the Terrians

were recuperating in their beds."

"And just *why* do you think I'm here, Ms Adair? For revenge of course!

That little brat betrayed me!".

"What have you done with Danziger? Where is he?"

"I haven't done anything to that big oaf...yet."

"But if my demands aren't followed to the tee, I'll return him to you *a

piece at a time*!"

Snarling savagely, he fixed True with his demonic gaze. She couldn't look

away from those terrible eyes.

"After all I'd done for her and was ready to take her under my wing and

shape her into my own image! 'Sharper than a serpent's tooth is it to have

a thankless child.' Well Poppet, if any tragedy befalls your father, take

comfort in the fact that *none* of this would have happened if not for

*you.*"

He took several steps in her direction.

Walman and Baines quickly moved between Gaal and True. This offered her

physical protection as well as blocked her from his viscous glare. Bess

Martin came up behind her and hugged her protectively.

"Don't listen to him True. None of this is your fault. The man is crazy."

True turned her tear streaked face towards Bess.

"He's going to kill my dad." She choked out.

Bess gathered True up into her arms and walked her back towards the dome

so she wouldn't be able to heard anymore. She shot Gaal a cold look. Bess

didn't often have wicked thoughts, but she silently cursed the powers that

allowed such a creature to exist.

*********

Devon needed to take control of the situation before things deteriorated

too far. She could trust Alonzo to keep his cool, but Walman and Baines

were very close to Danziger. If Gaal pushed the right buttons someone

could end up dead. She believed Gaal when he said that if anything

happened to him, John was a dead man. The blood stain on his coat worried

her. It had to be Danziger's blood, Gaal wasn't injured. How badly was

Danziger hurt? Was he already dead, and Gaal was just using his coat to

put the group into an emotional tailspin?

"Gaal, what do you want?"

Devon used her most no nonsense voice. The one that usually made Danziger

whince whenever she used it on him. Hopefully it would have more of an

effect on Gaal than it did on Danziger.

"You wanted the transrover before. I'll let you have it now, if you'll

release Danziger. We'll even fill it with supplies and no one will go

after you. You could go anywhere you want."

"My what a lovely offer, Ms Adair. Too bad it's several months too late!

To think that you betrayed me to the Terrians like that! A fellow human

being, one of your own kind!"

Alonzo couldn't believe what he'd just heard.

"Hey! I refuse to claim you as a fellow human. You abused and killed the

Terrians for the sheer pleasure of it! You were going to kill *us*! After

we took you in, no questions asked!"

"So I see the good Doctor has worked one of her medical miracles on you,

pilot. Too bad she couldn't do anything for that empty space in your head.

Although, I suppose she's more interested in what you have between your

legs than what you have between your ears. Yes, I imagine you're quite

popular with the ladies, hm?"

"You sick f..."

"Alonzo, please! Let me deal with him!"

So much for counting on Alonzo to keep his cool.

"Gaal! I'm asking for the last time. What do you want in exchange for

Danziger?"

"Your son."

Devon was totally stunned.

"Wha..what?! My *son*?! You want me to give you my son?!"

"Oh yes, and the Doctor too." A huge smile split Gaal's face. He was

enjoying himself immensely!

Devon's amazement gave way to anger.

"You expect me to hand over my son and another member of my group to

you?!"

"No, Madame I don't. I expect I'll have to kill you. Have to kill you all.

Let's just call it an added bonus."

"Bonus? For what?"

Julia began to get a sick feeling in her stomach. She knew what was coming

next.

"Why I think the Doctor knows. Don't you dear? Seems we have a mutual

friend. A Mr. Reilly. Quite a nice chap. He offered me a full pardon if I

could deliver the boy and the doctor to him unharmed. He didn't care what

happened to the rest of you. Ergo, my bonus."

Devon was totally lost now. She didn't have control of the situation and

it didn't look like she was going to get it anytime soon. He had to be

bluffing about Reilly.

"I don't believe you about Reilly. You must have over heard Julia when she

was talking to him in VR. How could you have gotten in touch with him?"

"With this."

Devon turned to see that Julia had moved forward and was now standing

next to her. She started to open her mouth to demand an explanation from

Julia, when her eyes fell on what Julia was holding up in her hand between

her thumb and index finger. Devon's mouth snapped shut. She looked into

Julia's pale pinched face.

"Where did you get that? I saw you throw it off a cliff. How long have you

had it?"

"I..I did..but then I found it in my pocket this morning. I'm guessing

that Gaal snuck into camp and put it there."

Devon snatched the tiny transmitter from her trembling hand and gave her

an accusing look.

"You've known about it since this morning?! Why didn't you show it to me

then?"

"I...uh...I was afraid that you might think I was still in contact with

Reilly. I didn't want..to be abandoned again."

She made a helpless gesture with her now empty hand and bit her lip to

still its trembling.

Devon immediately felt guilty for her accusatory tone. She could see the

anguish in Julia's face. After what had happened to her the last time, who

could blame her?

"Julia, no one is accusing you of working with Reilly. You've more than

proven your loyalty to the group." Her eyes fastened onto Gaal. "What I

want to know is how you got a hold of this" Devon shook the transmitter

at Gaal, who merely grinned idiotically and shrugged his shoulders.

"What can I say? Grendlers pick up the most interesting things."

"Devon, let's just beat the crap out of him until he tells us were

Danziger is!"

"Don't you dare, Walman! I refuse to stoop to this cretin's level!"

Devon decided to reason with Gaal and point out the obvious to him.

"Gaal, why don't you just tell us were Danziger is? What's to stop us from

just following you to him?"

Again, Gaal grinned wickedly. "I've given that some thought." Reaching

into his pocket he drew out a round silvery object that was about the size

of a softball. "So you can imagine my delight when the Grendlers found

this."

Yale recognized the spherical object for what it was. Quickly he pulled

Uly to him and covered the boy's eyes with his hand. Yale squeezed shut

his own eyes and adverted his head as he hollered a warning to the others.

Just as Gaal threw it into their midst.

"Everyone! Cover your eyes! That's an illuminary grenade!"

Having spent years listening to Yale's consul, Devon hid her face in the

crook of her elbow. The others either didn't heed him or they barely

closed their eyes in time. Cries of agony erupted from the group. Their

optic nerves had been overloaded with intense light causing pain and

blindness. Devon lowered her arm. Even with the shelter of her arm she

still had to blink as spots formed before her eyes causing them to tear

and burn. She saw Walman, Baines, and Alonzo withering on the ground

clutching their eyes. The others just seemed partially affected like

herself.

"Julia! Do something!"

"I wish I could, Devon but. I can barely see myself."

"Yale! Are these affects permanent?"

The scholar walked up to her on shaky legs. "Thank God no! But it will

take a painful while to heal.

"All right! Everyone who can somewhat see, help someone who can't! I want

everyone back in the dome!"

Bess and True rushed out of the tent. Bess hurried over to Morgan. True

stood there, uncertain of what to do. She looked around but saw no sign of

Gaal or evident of his exit from the camp. Devon saw True searching the

surrounding woods visually and decided she better give the girl something

to do before True decided to try to find her father on her own.

"True! Come over here and help Julia treat the others. You can be her

eyes."

Still in shook from Gaal resurrection, True again complied without

questions or defiance.

~*~

The main dome chamber was eerily silent. Everyone remained locked within

their own thoughts. None of them happy ones. Many were sporting migraines

and dealing with splotchy vision. Julia had done her best to speed up the

healing process and to minimize the pain, but short of sedating everybody

for 10 to 12 hours she couldn't reverse the hangover effect of the

illuminary grenade completely. That required time.

There was a rap at the door and Eben got up to unlock it while Bess took

up her position and stood ready to shoot in case it wasn't one of the

scouting party returning. The sight of the huge Magpro in the petite

woman-child's hands was comical. Until you got a good look at her. Her

eyes were like flint, her mouth set, and she held the gun unwaveringly.

This was an image of a young lioness determined to defend her pride from

any threat at any cost. Eben looked at Bess who nodded that she was

ready. The door swung open and Yale, Devon, Cameron, and Mangus stepped

quickly inside.

Their return shattered the prior stillness. Everyone rushed up to the

small band and began to speak at once furiously. Yale held up his

cyberarm. It was always a real attention getter. He had come to recognize

that and often used it for its effectiveness.

"One at a time! One at a time, please!"

"We didn't find any hint of tracks near the camp." Devon reported making

herself look these people in the eye levelly. "There's been so much

traffic in and about the campsite that it's nearly impossible to separate

boot marks. None of us are Wild West bounty hunters."

"What are we sitting around for?! Let's go get Danz!" Walman yelled

elbowing his way to the front and planting himself in front of Devon with

arms folded across his chest.

"And where do you propose we *look* for him?" Devon shot back. "We weren't

able to locate Gaal's trail and there is no signal; coming from Danziger's

gear. We can't risk endangering him by making Gaal nervous if he catches

us near his hideout."

"Hell, he's already endangered just by being near that wacko!"

An exasperated Devon turned her back on Walman. She reached up and

massaged her throbbing temple. Her eyes fell on Alonzo. The pilot was

seated next to Julia but looked as if he were a million light years away.

He didn't even acknowledge the ruckus around him.

"Alonzo, could you contact the Terrians and see if they could help us

locate Gaal? Judging by that new Terrian bone necklace they know he got

away. Surely they have an interest in his recapture."

A pained expression clouded Alonzo's eyes momentarily as he came abruptly

back to the here and now.

"I haven't been in contact with the Terrians for weeks...." He trailed off

weakly.

Devon cocked her head. "They're still hibernating?"

"No, I just wasn't sure how they would react to me now. So I've been

avoiding them. I have more control over the dream plane now. They can't

force their way into my dreams if I don't wish it. And I don't."

"You never told me that." Julia interjected sliding her arm up his

shoulder as she stared at him with deep concern.

"Why?"

"I don't know how they will treat me after what happened on the failed

cargo pod 9 expedition. 'Don't harm.' Remember? They may not want anything

to do with me when they find out I was party to the killing and eating of

a Grendler."

Devon leaned on the table towards him. "Could you try? This is very

important."

Alonzo nodded affirmatively. Julia laid her cheek on his shoulder and

stroked his back.

"Who cares what the Terrians think?! They probably let that goof ball go!

Some leader *you* turned out to be! Man, I should have known not the sign

on where some blue-blooded ditzy female was in charge. But I figured

O'Neil would be running the show.."

"Don't talk to Devon like that Walman. She's done the best she could given

the circumstances. You can't expect her to have predicted something like

this happening."

"Shut up, Cameron! You're just her personal lackey! Hell, you'd lick her

boots clean if she told you to!"

"Hey, Walman! That's uncalled for! Cameron never voices his opinions. He's

entitled to a say in this. I wasn't part of the original landing group

either, but there's nothing wrong with the way Devon's handled things!"

"ENOUGH! I'm sick of you people and your righteous indignation! No one

twisted your arm or held a gun to your head and forced you to come here!

I'm *sorry!* I didn't plan on bombs, or spies, or homicidal maniacs! So

sue me! You have a problem with my leadership, Walman? Fine. I'm not

leader anymore! I wash my hands of all of you. So Walman, what's the plan?

How are you going to get Danziger free without getting him and half the

group killed?! Where are you going to look for him?! Huh, Walman?!

WHERE?!"

Devon fired her questions three inches from Walman's face. She jabbed him

in the chest with her index finger during the entire tirade. She had

backed the man up against the table until he couldn't go any farther. He

lost his balance and plopped down heavily onto the bench. He stared at

Devon with wide scared eyes and a gaping mouth.

"I...I never said I wanted to lead the group."

"Well *someone* has to Walman. Cause I'm not!"

Yale stepped up behind Devon and place his hands on her shoulders and

squeezed gently.

"Devon, please! This is not the time or place for this. I know how

stressful this situation has been for you. Up until now, the only thing in

your life you haven't been able to control, overcome, or get around has

been Uly's illness. We need to stay together for John's sake."

Devon brushed her hair from her face and patted Yale's hand with hers.

Looking around she saw the damage her little tantrum had inflicted on the

others. There were looks of fear, pain, and confusion. She was suppose to

be keeping these people *together* not driving more wedges between them.

Where had her control gone? She'd never lost it like that before.

"Ahum, sorry... I didn't mean to do that. Does any one have any

suggestions?"

"What about the penal colony living with the Terrians?"

"No, I'd thought of them too, but the Elder is having a power struggle

himself since both Sheppard and Katrina died. I wouldn't want to add to

his woes. Besides, they don't like to venture out above ground unless

absolutely necessary. And then not very far. I'd like to keep their

existence from Gaal. That way if things go really badly, the rest can go

there for safety."

"How are we ever going to find them?!"

"Well, my grandmother always said 'if you want to know who's stealing your

chickens, ask a fox.'"

"Bess, you've never seen chickens or a fox."

"I *know* Morgan. It's just an expression!"

"Bess is right. If we want to find Gaal, we need someone who's lived here

a long time. Knows his way around, how to track, where good places to hide

are, can do want is necessary to survive."

Devon slowly paced in a lazy circle as she ran down her list of qualities

for a Gaal hunter.

"Who's like that? Another penal colonist? Isn't that just as risky?"

"Actually, I had Whelan in mind."

"Whe..Whelan? The man-in-the-iron-mask, Whelan?" Morgan asked wide-eyed.

"Yes, sort of a takes one to know one idea. If anyone could find Gaal,

it'd be him."

"Brilliant plan Devon, but how can you be sure he will cooperate?"

Smiling at Yale Devon replied, "You of all people should know how

persuasive I can be!"

"Well, you can't go alone. And you'll need to wait till morning. You'll

never make it there and back before night fall. We don't know if Gaal is

out there waiting to pick us off one at at time. You stand a better chance

in broad daylight."

"I don't know Yale, Whelan is pretty skittish. If I go up there with an

armed escort he may shoot first and never ask any questions. I think I

should go alone."

Bess leaned over and nudged Morgan. "Morgan I think you should go. Whelan

knows you."

Morgan looked at his wife as if she had suddenly sprouted fangs and a

tail. "The man hung me from my feet in a tree, Bess! That hardly makes us

bosom buddies!"

"That's why I think you should go. He didn't hurt you the last time, that

means he isn't threatened by you."

"No! My place is here, with you."

Morgan patted Bess' thigh and smiled. Bess grabbed his hand and yanked him

towards her. She placed her lips against his ear and whispered so only he

could hear her words.

"Morgan, if you *ever* want to glimpse "paradise" again, you'll go."

Morgan pulled away from her and scrutinized her expression while he slowly

digested her meaning. Morgan stood and turned to Devon.

"Devon, I..I think I should go with y..y.you."

Glancing back at Bess he added. "I *insist* on going with you."

********

The snow was still fairly deep farther up on the mountain where Whelan's

lodge was located. Devon had been steadily trudging upwards trying

desperately to ignore the droning complaints of Morgan Martin. *God! How

did Bess put up with this wretch?!* Devon admired and preferred men who

were in touch with their inner feelings and emotions, but Morgan was just

too sensitive.--At least when it came to himself, not others.

"Oh God! How much farther? Why couldn't we have taken the rail or ATV? We

don't have to worry about Gaal, Reilly, or Whelan! We're going to die

right *here* frozen to death! I can't feel anything below my waist!"

*Or above your neck.* Thought Devon silently. fuming. Unable to stand

another simpering syllable, Devon whirled around and fixed Morgan with

flaming eyes.

"Morgan! Shut-up! *You* insisted on coming along! And if you utter one

more word I'll knock you flat!"

A recalcitrant Morgan merely muttered under his breath.

Devon sucked in a deep calming breath of the cool crisp air. They

continued onward in a stiff silence. She hated losing control like that.

Letting someone get to you like that just gave them power over you. It

taught them what buttons to push to drive you over the edge. Devon was

used to being in control, being the one who pushed other people's buttons.

Back on the stations she had a reputation as being unflappable in the

boardroom. Only problem was they were 22 light years from the nearest

boardroom. There the only thing she had no control over was the disease

that sought to steal her child from her. G889 was suppose to have solved

that conundrum. With the Terrians help it had, but apparently at the cost

of her otherwise meticulous life.

Hardships and obstacles were things she had expected to face on their new

home. Only she had envisioned them differently. She had thought to deal

with colony planning, irrigation systems, setting up a government, helping

with the rehabilitation of the Syndrome children, etc. *Not* with bombs,

crash landings, intelligent alien life forms, penal colonists, ZEDs,

spies, the Council, and especially not John Danziger.

John Danziger was probably Devon's biggest threat on this planet. Right

after the crash she had worried that he might openly challenge her for

control of the group. So far he hadn't. Oh, but he'd hinted at it enough!

Dangled it in front of her face whenever he wanted his own way. Plus he

seemed to go out of his way not do what she told him to do. Direct

defiance she could deal with, but Danziger was the king of the passive

aggressives! He conveniently "forgot" to wear his gear, would go off

without clearing it with her first, or he would just plain ignore her.

And that "look" he always gave her whenever she decided to do something

he didn't approve of! Sometimes when she caught him rolling his eyes,

pursing his lips and shaking his head, she had a overwhelming urge to

punch him in the jaw. *Oh please God,* she prayed silently, *let him be

all right.* Perversely John Danziger had become Devon Adair's rock. Simply

by being there to fight with her, he helped distract her from the

bleakness of their situation. *Please let me find him so I can punch him!*

A couple of hours later, the surrounded forest began to look familiar as

they neared Whelan's lodge. It was just ahead between a couple of trees.

Devon was just about to caution Morgan to be on the look out for the

woodsman, when a nearby tree exploded with a spray of bark and limbs.

Morgan and Devon both hit the ground and searched anxiously about trying

to see which direction the weapon fire had come from. Devon debated

whether to risk contacting the camp via gear. They had decided to use it

only in extreme circumstances since they couldn't be sure it Gaal was

using John's set to monitor them. Just then another bolt struck the tree

they were closest to.

"Why is he firing at us?!" Morgan whined hysterically. "He knows we're not

hostile!"

"Shush, Morgan!" Devon guesstimate the angle of trajectory of the last

shot, and thought she had a rough idea of where Whelan was concealed.

Staying crouched low, she turned to her left and addressed a small pile of

debris made up of fallen branches and boulders.

"Whelan! Stop firing! We're from the Eden Advance Camp! We won't harm

you!"

An eerie silence was her only reply. Morgan tugged on her coat sleeve.

"We gotta get out of heeere! He either doesn't remember us or doesn't

care! Let's make a run for it!"

Devon grabbed Morgan's collar and shook him.

"Think, Morgan! If Whelan had wanted us dead, we'd be dead by now! He's

just trying to scare us!" Devon hissed at him.

"Well it's working! I'm scared! Aren't you?!"

Just then a shadow fell over the bickering couple. They looked up to see

Whelan towering over them with his laser bowgun aimed at them. Whimpering

noises began to seep out of Morgan's throat. Devon gave him a quick slap

on the arm to silence him. As she slowly rose to her feet she kept both

hands visible.

"Whelan, it's me, Devon Adair. And this is Morgan Martin, you remember

him?"

"I know you. And I remember hanging him upside down from a tree."

Morgan gave a nervous chuckle and stood up, but hide behind Devon as much

as he could without appearing to be hiding behind her.

"That's right! Boy, did we have fun that day, huh?!"

Ignoring Morgan's ramblings, Whelan directed his question to Devon.

"Why are you here? Go back to where you came from. You aren't welcomed

here."

"Whelan. please listen to me first! One of our group is in trouble. John

Danziger has been taken captive by a penal colonist."

Whelan regarded her with a clinical detachment.

"What does that have to do with me?"

Devon had the uncomfortable sensatation of knowing what an insect felt

like stuck on the end of a specimen pin. Returning his stare she tried to

at least look nonchalant.

"We need your help in tracking them."

"No."

"No?!" Devon's coolness evaporated. "Why?! He could be injured or dying!

Please! Help us!"

"If he was careless enough to get captured, he should accept his fate.

Life tests us constantly. He has failed. Survival is for the fittest. The

weak and stupid are weeded out to make room for the strong and

intelligent."

"*Bullshit!* I'm not buying into that Social Darwinism crap, Whelan! We

aren't animals! We're humans! Humans help one another and take care of

their weak and sick. Has your father poisoned your brain beyond all

hope?!"

"Uh, Devon." Morgan tapped on the irate woman's shoulder anxiously. "You

don't antagonize a person who has a weapon aimed at you!"

"Help them, Whelan."

An astonished Devon and Morgan looked up to see a familiar figure step out

of the lodge.

"Mary."

Devon gasped and started towards the girl. Whelan barred her way. Mary

placed her hand on his arm and trilled softly at him. This had some sort

of calming affect on him because he relaxed his stance and let her pass.

Mary and Devon embraced while Morgan looked on smiling.

"Mary! We looked everywhere for you! Yale was beside himself with grief

when we didn't find you. We thought you had died out there all alone."

Devon took both of Mary's hands into hers and squeezed gently. Not

normally a superstitious woman, Devon took the finding of Mary alive as a

good omen that they would find Danziger alive too. Mary returned her smile

and cocked her head in that puppy-dog way of hers.

"I would be dead, if not for Whelan."

She paused, looked back over her shoulder and graced the woodsman with an

angelic smile. He returned her gaze impassively.

"Whelan found me half dead. He took me in and gave me time to realize that

I didn't want to die. That there could be a life for me without the

Terrians."

Devon's gaze traveled between Mary and Whelan and back again. Just how

did Whelan convince Mary to choose life over death she wondered? Had he

taken advantage of her ignorance and innocence? Was Mary her own person,

or merely Whelan's toy now? Devon decided to test her.

"Mary, you heard what I said about John Danziger, right? Do you remember

him?"

"Yes, he gave me this coat."

"That's right! He's in trouble and we have to help him. Only I need help

to find him."

Mary turned her attention back to Whelan and reiterate her demand.

"Help them, Whelan."

"No."

Letting go of Devon's hands, she walked up to him and laid her hand

lightly on his chest.

"But why? You helped me."

"That was different. I wanted you."

"Then they are the same. If you still want me, you will help them.

Otherwise, I will go with them and share their fate whatever it may be.

You will never see me again."

Whelan's face grew even more stony. He snatched her hand from his

shoulder and pushed her to the ground. He took one step towards her and

stood there glaring down at her. Devon kept her hand on her sidearm

prepared to defend the girl if he attacked.

"I see now that *all* women are as devious as SHE was."

He said this quietly in reference to his dead mother. He turned and

entered the lodge without another word or glance her way. Mary got up and

brushed the snow from her rump. She grinned at Devon and Morgan.

"Come." She made a beckoning gesture with her hand as she headed for the

lodge door. "He will help."

Devon followed the girl into the dwelling with an incredulous Morgan close

behind.

"*That* was a yes?!" He hissed softly.

Once their eyes had adjusted to the dimmer interior light, Devon and

Morgan were relieved to see that although the vines remained, the

skeletons had been removed from the alcove that had been their resting

place for years. Seeing where their gazes lingered, Mary gave them an

explanation.

"Whelan's people are at peace now."

She lead them to another room where Whelan was seated at a crude table

drawing a map on a animal skin with a piece of charcoal. He neither looked

up or acknowledged them in anyway. Devon finally sat down next to him and

began to study the map that was quickly taking shape before her.

"This is your lodge here?"

She pointed to a spot and waited for his conformation of her bearings.

Whelan's curt nod was her only reply. Devon drummed her fingers lightly on

the table top. Her need of Whelan's help was the only thing keeping her

tongue in check. She longed to lecture the young man on the basics of

common courtesy. Looking around, she noticed that Mary had disappeared.

Morgan was hovering nervously and conveniently by the door.

"I became aware of him several weeks ago."

Devon jumped at the sound of his voice. Whelan had paused in his

cartography and was staring at her with that intense yet oddly far away

look of his.

"I'm sorry. Became aware of who? Gaal?"

"I do not know his name, only his handiwork."

"Handiwork? I don't understand."

"Several weeks ago I began to find animals in my traps that had been

tortured and mutilated. At first I thought that scavengers were the

culprits, but I've never seen those type of wounds inflicted by another

animal before."

"What makes you think it was Gaal?"

"Four days ago, I went to check a trap a couple of miles from here. As I

approached, I could hear the animal's screams of fear and pain. Then I saw

him. A short tattered thing with a scar on one cheek. He was jabbing at it

with a sharpened stick. Its eyes had already been put out, but it

continued to snap blindly and desperately at him. All the while, he was

laughing."

Devon had visible paled and Morgan was making his whimper noises again.

Mary reappeared ladened with a tray full of food and steaming mugs. She

set it down onto the table, fetched Morgan and sat him down in front of

Devon. A mug was placed in his hands.

"I had never seen such cruelty or enjoyment of it since my father. I

watched for nearly an hour until the animal finally died of its wounds and

exhaustion. He stopped laughing then and seemed angry at the beast for

spoiling his fun by dying. He removed some flesh and put it into a sack. I

followed him to his lair. I did not enter."

"W...Wha...Why didn't you kill him?"

Morgan stuttered as he lifted the trembling mug to his lips. Whelan turned

his eyes to Morgan and studied him as if he were a bug. An ordinary,

boring bug.

"I thought of it."

Turning away from Morgan he addressed the rest strictly to Devon.

"You showed me that what I thought was a demon all these years was just an

image of my dead mother. That doesn't mean they don't exist. I have done

some harsh and terrible things to survive, but I never took pleasure in

them. That thing is not human, or Terrian, or Grendler. If he is not one

of these, how could I be sure I could kill him? You had better hope that

your man is dead and not still alive. Surely he wouldn't be treated any

better than that animal in my trap."

Looking into Whelan's eyes, Devon was startled to see real fear in them.

If Gaal frighten someone like Whelan, what chance did the group have

against him? She took a sip of the native brew. It didn't taste like

coffee, but it was hot, strong, and served the same function as coffee.

Examining the map, she began to ask Whelan details about distances,

landmarks, and orientation to their Base Camp. About an hour later, they

had finished eating and Devon had a good idea where Gaal's hideout was.

Hopefully he hadn't moved in the last couple of days. She stood and rolled

up the map.

"Thank you for your help, Whelan."

She extended her hand. Whelan stood up but didn't take her hand.

"You can thank me by never coming here again." He responded flatly.

Devon lowered her hand and nodded. She didn't appear shocked by his

demand. Morgan however, stood up and exclaimed excitedly.

"What do you mean? 'Thank you' and 'don't come here again'?!" Morgan

looked anxiously from Whelan to Devon and back again. "You *are* coming

with us, right? Devon, none of us have the experience to deal with that

mad man!"

"I will not go near that demon again. If you are wise, you won't either."

"Gaal isn't a demon, Whelan. He's a man. A sick, terrible man."

"Regardless of what he is, he wears the smell of death about him like a

shroud."

"Do you hear that, Devon?! 'Death,' 'shroud.' Whelan won't even go near

that lunatic! What chance to we have?!"

Ignoring the fact that she had the same concerns herself, Devon jumped

verbally on Morgan. "What chance does Danziger have without us?!" She shot

back. "He was willing to risk his life to go after you, Morgan even though

he had good reasons to leave you to the Terrians. You *owe* him."

Morgan had the decency to look ashamed.

"Yes, I owe him. I owe him several times over. But I don't think even he

would want me to pay him back with my life."

"We'll discuss this later. Back at Camp. Come on we need to start back

before it gets too late. The others will be worried."

Devon turned to Mary.

"You know you are welcomed to come with us. Both of you."

Mary smiled and shook her head. She moved to Whelan's side and slide her

hand into his.

"My place is here. This is my home, our home."

Whelan actually managed a small smile at her pronouncement.

"Yale will be so disappointed that he didn't get to see you, but he will

be relieved to know that you are alive and safe."

Mary moved to the table and picked up a piece of fruit much like the one

she shared with Yale during his captivity with the Terrians. She placed it

in Devon's hand. Looking up with tears in her eyes, she gave Devon a

message to rely to Yale for her.

"Tell Yale,...tell him that he was right. I am not a Terrian. But I'm

still learning what it means to be human."

Devon hugged her and slipped the fruit into her pocket.

"We all are Mary, we all are. That a part of being human."

She and Morgan stepped outside. Devon inhaled sharply and blinked several

times to dry the tears that sprang into her eyes before they fell. She

buttoned her coat and put on her gloves, and they headed back down the

mountain.

"Whelan and Mary. Who would have guessed?" Devon mused aloud breaking the

silent trek a while later.

"'Every pot has its cover.'" Morgan recited softly.

Stopping and turning towards him, Devon threw Morgan a quizzical look.

"What?"

Looking a bit startled that he'd been overheard, Morgan blushed.

"Oh, it's just something Bess tells me whenever I ask her what she sees in

me."

Adjusting his scarf, he shrugged and grinned feebly.

"She just smiles, pats my cheek, and says 'Every pot has its cover.' Then

she kisses me on the nose."

Morgan broke into a huge smile at the memory of Bess.

"You really love Bess don't you?"

"Even more than myself." He laughed. "If you can believe that!"

Devon chuckled with him.

"I honestly don't know why she puts up with me. When we were first married

I didn't push it. I just thought she was using me to get off Earth and

into a better life. Figured she'd disappear the second the marriage

contract expired."

"You married Bess thinking she was just using you?"

Absently Morgan picked up a stick and ran it along the ground through the

snow as they trudged along.

"Why not? I was using my influence and power to catch her. No one was more

shocked than me when she agreed to a permanent marriage! I mean what did

she have to gain by staying with a stranded, lowly level four official

whose own government was trying to kill him? Especially when there are all

these attractive, macho type guys around flexing their big muscles."

"Don't worry Morgan, Bess loves you."

Morgan cleared his throat and gave Devon an earnest look.

"I know. And one day, I hope to be worthy of that love."

He looked so pathetic and morose that Devon reached out and gave him an

awkward pat on the shoulder. Just when she had him pegged as a gutless

weasel, he surprised her. Morgan Martin might be gutless, but he wasn't a

weasel.

"You have a lot going for you, Morgan. You're an indepensible part of the

group."

Morgan wiped his nose on the cuff of his coat sleeve and looked surprised.

"Really? I am? In what way?"

*Damn!* He would ask for specifics! Devon looked about frantically racking

her brain.

"Well...you always stress caution when others want to rush on in. Uhn...we

would be lost and totally disorganized without your expertise with

managing reports. Oh! And you're very punctual!"

She ended with what she hoped was a believable smile.

"I am aren't I?" Morgan grinned and smoothed the front of his coat.

"I'd proposed several procedural changes to my supervisors on how to

improve the flow and accuracy of asteroid mining records. What I did see

was...."

Devon pasted a smile on her face and nodded when appropriate as Morgan

regaled her with his exploits of slaying the Digital Dragon of Bureaucracy

back on the stations. The walk back seemed much longer that the way up.

********

Something was nagging at Danziger. Trying to pull him up out of the

comfortable oblivion his consciousness had retreated to. With the return

of awareness came pain. He gasped and bit his lower lip. He tried to slip

back into the nothingness, but the pain refused to release him this time.

His head pounded, his body ached, and his throat was parched. What had

happened? Slowly memory pushed past the bodily complaints and he

remembered.

He'd been out checking the pass down from the mountain for a good site to

camp. Their first day back on the road to New Pacifica would have to be a

short one. The vehicles and people had taken quite a beating this winter.

No need to push either one too hard the first few days. He thought if he

found an acceptable site that Devon would agree to stop sooner rather than

try to drive them just 'one more klick.' Devon was a very focused and

determined individual, only she was short sighted when it came to the fact

that not everyone was capable of pushing themselves as hard as she pushed

herself.

Danziger groaned and rolled onto his side. The act was made more

difficult by his bound wrists. He sat up quickly, sputtering and coughing.

He'd rolled into a puddle of icy water and had inhaled some. The shock of

the cold water revived him fully. He slid back until he was no longer in

the puddle and was leaning against the cold wall. He remembered being

jumped from above as he'd walked beneath a tree. Cold, wet, and shivering

he carefully laid his bruised and battered face against the soothing

coldness of the rock wall. He took several deep breaths and closed his

eyes against the dizzying nausea that threatened him.

The dank foul air assaulted his nostrils and didn't help him with his

battle for his stomach. He knew that smell. Would remember it till the day

he died. He was in a Grendler warren. So it was a Grendler that had jumped

him. Who would have thought those bulky snot machines could climb trees?

What did it want with him? He thought it had at least accepted his

shooting of it's mate, if not forgiven him for it. Or was this maybe

another Grendler that would not accept or forgive his crime? Did they have

a concept of vigilante justice? He heard the scraping of footsteps echoing

from the dark passageway that lead to this large cave chamber. Nervously

Danziger braced himself for the Grendler he expected to emerge from the

passageway. Whatever the creature wanted, it wasn't coming to swap

mechanical tips.

A dark shadow crept along the chamber floor and slowly engulfed the

nervous mechanic. Danziger had thought that a Grendler would be the worst

thing to emerge from the passageway. He was wrong, it was the second worst

thing to come into the chamber. The very worst thing was Gaal. Danziger

squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head gently. Man, this had to be a

dream! No, make that a nightmare! Gaal was *dead*! He saw the Terrians

drag him screaming into their underworld. Remember John, O'Neil had been

dead too, but he had come back. Let's face it, dead wasn't always a

permanent state on G889.

Gaal strolled towards Danziger with his face twisted in a grimace of a

smile that would have passed for goofy if not for the deranged gleam that

lighted his eyes. He squatted down in front of Danziger and studied his

battered countenance, reveling in the other man's tense discomfort.

"Surprised?" He asked jovially, again flashing his feral smirk.

"Yeah, a bit."

His eyes shifting between Gaal and the Grendler hunched by the

passageway. Danziger began tugging and twisting ever so slightly on his

bindings. Gaal noticed his actions.

"That's quite futile, you know. Even Grendlers can't break free of Sidero

vines."

"What happened to your face?"

"Ah, this." Gaal reached up and stroked his mishapened cheek. "This is the

work of a careless Grendler."

He looked over his shoulder and glared at the being sitting behind him.

It bleated plaintively and shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

It reached up and stroked its own cheek where a similar scar marred its

face.

"Their blundering rescue netted me this lovely memento. But a lesson well

taught is a lesson well learned. Wouldn't you agree?"

"With the theory-yes. With the practice-no."

"Tut, tut. So high and mighty. So morally outraged!" Gaal lifted his

eyebrows and chuckled. "Heavens, I merely improved its looks a bit. It's

not like I *ate* it or anything like that. Though I understand they taste

just like chicken."

"How did you know about that?" Danziger asked hoarsely.

Leaning towards him until their faces were mere inches apart Gaal spoke

softly.

"Oh, you'd be surprised by what I know, Mr. Danziger. I even know my

little Poppet forgave you your sin."

Danziger locked gazes with him and replied just as softly, just as coldly.

"Stay away from my daughter."

Gaal cocked his head and gave a short bark of a laugh. "Didn't we have

this conversation before? Why Poppet chose you over me I'll never

understand."

"Her name is "True" and she isn't yours. She's *mine*."

Staring at Danziger hatefully, Gaal stood and towered over him menacingly.

Then he began to strut around the chamber as if he were an actor

delivering a soliloquy.

"No, but she could have been. Someone for me to mold and shape. I could

have shown her the power that laid dormant within herself. Helped her

achieve a higher plane. Given her a taste of power. Freed her from

society's idiotic notions of morality."

Spinning around with his ragged cloak whirling about him, Gaal lifted his

hands to the ceiling above him and proclaimed loudly, his voice echoing

and ringing about the chamber.

"She could have been GLORIOUS!"

"You're insane, Gaal." Danziger whispered horrified.

Lowering his arms and turning back towards him, Gaal smiled.

"All great men are called insane in their time."

"Yeah, but not all insane men are great."

Snarling in rage, Gaal rushed Danziger and kicked him savagely in the

stomach. Danziger cried out in pain. He slumped to his side clutching his

stomach, coughing and retching. Gaal hunched down and grabbed a fistful of

Danziger's hair and yanked him to a sitting position. The vicious animal

was gone, replaced once more with the solicitous crony.

"So tell me Mr. Danziger, why do you allow that bossy bit o'goods order

you around?"

"Who?" Danziger gasped still spasming in pain.

"That Adair woman. You know you could have been running that show.--Why

weren't you? You have the classic Alpha male attributes: biggest,

strongest, charismatic. You're even attractive in a Neanderthal-ish

way..."

"Gee...thanks Gaal, sorry but you're not my type."

"What about Devon Adair? Is *she* your type?...Hmmm? Imagine her at your

command. That snooty princess, who on the Stations would never have given

you the time of day, obliging your every whim and fantasy....Or don't you

have those either? And when you tire of her you could have the pick of any

of the other ladies. Who'd stop you?"

Gaal paused to gauge the affect his words were having. When he saw he had

Danziger's undivided attention he slitted his eyes and continued.

"...Or you could have the pick of the men for that matter if that's your

preference. All it takes is a little flexing of those big biceps of yours.

You're a natural leader. Why waste talent and opportunity like that? They

would follow you over Adair."

Danziger sat looking at Gaal for a long moment. Much of what Gaal had

said had struck a chord. But not the one Gaal had hoped to, he was sure.

Yes, he had used his size and strength before to his advantage but never

to the extremes that the man suggested now. He knew everyone had their

dark side, and that thoughts weren't the same as actions. John knew he was

staring into the eyes of a devil, and he didn't relish the idea of playing

Faust to Gaal's Mephistopheles.

"First of all Gaal, I don't believe in using people. Been used enough in

my life to know how shitty that feels. Second, I'm not interested in

challenging Adair for leadership of the group. She does just fine...most

of the time."

"Ahhh...There must be a defective gene on on your DNA strand. I first

noticed it when you went along with Adair's decision to let me remain in

camp even when your gut told you to get rid of me. I noticed it again when

you couldn't pull the trigger and shoot me...either time. Do you recall

that, hmm?"

Danziger remained stonily silent. Gaal rolled his eyes upward in a

gesture of deep concentration. Then he reached up and scratched the

scraggly stubble on his chin that passed for a beard.

"As I recall it...you promised to 'shoot me in cool blood. In front on

your daughter. If I even dared to show my face within a mile of your

camp.' Did I leave anything out?"

"What do you want Gaal? You didn't bring me here to give me lessons on

leadership or reminisce." Danziger growled. The coldness and weariness

making him forget caution.

"I want to kill you, Mr. Danziger." Gaal replied softly, smiling

pleasantly as if he were commenting on the weather. "Leisurely,

meticulously. You're a big strapping man, you should last for days, if I'm

careful."

Danziger felt a shudder run through his body that had nothing to do with

the cold.

"But for the time being you're bait. A big fat wiggle worm I've dangled in

front of Devon Adair. You're going to help me land her."

"You over estimate my worth to the group, Gaal. Devon isn't going to stick

around waiting for you to pick everyone off one at a time. She's not that

stupid! She knows you aren't to be trusted. Right now she's packing up

camp, heading out." Silently Danziger prayed that he was right. Hopefully

Devon saw the idiocy of coming for him.

"Oh, she'll come for you. 'Stubbornness and stupidity are twins.' And then

the only quandary I'll have is who to kill first. You...or True."

Danziger exploded forward with a fury. No bonds or bruises could hold him

back. Catching Gaal by surprise, he landed on him heavily knocking the

wind out of him. Danziger immediately had him by the throat and began

squeezing it and thumping Gaal's head against the cave floor.

"YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER! YOU DON'T TOUCH HER! YOU DON'T SPEAK TO HER! YOU DON'T LOOK AT HER!"

Bellowing loudly the Grendler rushed to the defense of Gaal. Grabbing

Danziger by the back of the neck it pulled him off Gaal and slammed him

against the wall. It then bellowed some more and began shaking its head

and gesticulating wildly. It pawed the dirt like an enraged bull poised to

charge. It let out one more bellow and started for Danziger who laid

crumpled and dazed in a heap on the floor.

"STOP!"

The Grendler stopped, turned to Gaal and whined disappointedly at him.

Gaal sat up and glared at the Grendler as he rubbed his throat.

"A bit slow back there, friend. Next time he better not touch me or I'll

decided to satisfy my curiosity about the taste of Grendler meat myself."

Again the Grendler made soft bleating noises of supplication.

"Save it. Hold him. Tightly."

The Grendler shoved Danziger against the wall and pinned him there with

one meaty hand. Gaal stood up, made a show of brushing himself off then

moseyed over to the two of them. Sneering Gaal gave Danziger several kicks

in quick succession. Unable to defend himself the mechanic could only sit

there and cry out in response to each blow. He finally regained his self

control and stopped his mindless assault of Danziger. Once more he lowered

himself to Danziger's eye level.

"You've just decided for me, friend. You'll get to hear your daughter's

screams of agony as she cries out for daddy to help her. Yes, I'll enjoy

that immensely."

Danziger reached up his bound hands to grasp Gaal's tattered cloak.

"Please Gaal, she's just a little girl. Don't hurt her. It's me you want

revenge on. Take it out on me. Leave her out of this. Please!"

Danziger turned beseeching eyes on Gaal and willed his words to reach

some small iota of human decency that had to remain within him. The man

couldn't be completely soulless. He wasn't a ZED for Christ's sake! Gaal

looked down at Danziger with cold flat eyes. Slowly he disengaged himself

from his grasp.

"But don't you see, Mr. Danziger?" Gaal whispered ever so softly. "This is

my best revenge on you. That little girl is your whole life, you're very

soul. By taking that from you, I take everything. In fact, I might just

let you live afterwards. Just to watch you blow your own brains out. That

could be quite entertaining."

"NO! Gaal please! I'm begging! Leave her alone! She's innocent!"

"Well, she'll die enlightened. My gift to her."

The Grendler reached out and tugged at Gaal's sleeve burbbling intently.

"What? Oh, all right."

Gaal pulled a knife out of his billowy cloak. He sawed through the

bindings at Danziger's wrists. Before he could even think of moving the

Grendler quickly grabbed both wrists and extended his left arm towards

Gaal, who expertly sliced him from his wrist to the crook of his elbow.

Danziger hissed at the burning pain. Immediately blood welled up bright

crimson and wet.

The Grendler made soft moaning noises before lowering its head to

Danziger's arm. The sensation of the Grendler's warm, moist, drool ladened

lips on his arm sickened Danziger. When the Grendler began to suckle

loudly and probe his wound with his tongue encouraging the blood to flow,

Danziger started hollering and beating it with his free hand. The Grendler

was unfazed by the blows. It pushed him down to floor and continued to

nurse, stroking Danziger with one hand while it sighed contently. between

swallows.

"Just make sure you don't drain him. I want him alive. When you're done

tie him back up and put him in the back."

Gaal turned and started for the passageway. Danziger lifted his head and

clawed futilely at the ground. He watched him exit the chamber with a

purposeful stride whistling a tune to himself.

'GAAL! GET THIS DAMN THING OFF ME! DON'T DO THIS! GAAL!!!"

*****

Alonzo sat down on the cot. He rubbed his hands nervously over his knees

to wipe the sweat from his palms and to camouflage his jittery legs. Julia

tried to observe him with her standard detached clinicialism, but she was

finding that harder and harder to do these days. His discomfort affected

her as surely as if it were her own.

"Would you like me to sedate you?"

"What?" Her voice forced Alonzo from his worrisome reflections. "No, no

thanks. I want to be able to wake up in case..."

Alonzo voice trailed off and his eyes slid to the floor refusing to meet

hers. Julia was finding this introverted Alonzo much more irritating than

the Don Juan Alonzo had ever been. She was supposed to be the emotionally

remote one in this relationship, not him. Alonzo was the one who was

supposed to drawn her out of herself, get her to open up about her

feelings. Irrationally she felt betrayed by his aloofness.

"In case...what?"

"In case the Terrians aren't in a welcoming mood."

"Alonzo, that's not it. Why won't you tell me about your dream last

night?" Julia hoped he didn't hear the edge in her sharply voiced

question.

Alonzo sighed. He knew she was upset that he wouldn't confide in her.

"I'm sorry, Julia. It's just that I feel like if I talk about it, it'll

happen." He tried to conjure up the old Solace charm, but his smile was a

wan imitation. "I know I'm acting superstitious but humor an 'old man,'

will ya?"

Julia came over and sat down next to him. She leaned towards him and

reached up with her gloved hand and lightly stroked his bottom lip with

her fingertips causing the diagnostic glove to beep frustratedly as it

attempted to read his vitals from this inadequate contact.

"Don't I always?" She murmured quietly engrossed in his dark eyes.

Alonzo leaned even closer till their lips were barely touching. One hand

slide up her arm, over her shoulder and along her neck until it tangled in

her hair.

"I've forgotten. Remind me."

Before she could reply, he pulled her head forward and pressed his lips to

hers in the gentlest of kisses. Julia shivered and deepened the kissed.

Never breaking the kiss, Julia pushed him backwards onto the cot. Alonzo

offered no protest. Alonzo tugged the diagnostic glove from her arm and

tossed it unceremoniously to the floor. Soon hands and mouths became

urgent. Neither noticed the door pushing open a crack and Bess poking her

head inside.

"Psst, Julia. Is he asleep yet?" The vision that greeted Bess was all the

answer she needed. "Oops, sorry!"

She started to pull the door back shut, when Walman came up behind her and

shoved it wide open so the entire group in the main dome room got an

eyeful of the groping couple.

Walman threw up his hand in exasperation and brought it smacking down

against his thigh.

"Aw hell! He'll never get to sleep with you doing that to him!" He

exclaimed disdainfully to Julia.

For her part, Julia literally flew out of Alonzo's embrace and sat

hunched on the far edge of the cot self consciously wiping her mouth with

the back of her hand. Red-faced she stared fixedly at a bit of dirt on the

floor. Sighing, Alonzo slowly sat back up. He didn't understand Julia's

dislike of public displays of affection, but he tried to respect her

wishes, when he could help himself. Turning and frowning at their

unwelcome audience, Alonzo attempts to bluff his way through the awkward

situation for Julia's sake.

"Julia was just prepping me for sleep." He said in his most professional

sounding voice.

Bess' wide doe eyes widen even farther, and Walman's scowl melted into a

smirk. Despite the seriousness of their plight or perhaps because of it,

the room erupted in loud guffaws and snickers. Recognizing the foolishness

of his own remark, Alonzo fought the smirk that tugged at his lips and

glanced apologetically at Julia. Who fevourently hoped that the ground

would open up and swallow her.

"All right, everyone! Let's give Alonzo some privacy!"

Yale's deep baritone sliced through the cacophony with a paternal

authority that no one could refuse. As he ushered out the stunned Bess and

sniggering Walman, he shot Alonzo a look that that said no more monkey

business, mister!

"Pleasant dreams, Alonzo." Yale said as he pulled the door shut.

Julia stood and retrieved her diagnostic glove from under the cot where

it had ended up during their ardent tussle. Making a show of checking it

for damage, Julia once again slipped behind her mask of indifference.

"Well, since you don't want a sedative, I guess I'll be going, too." Julia

gazed at the door glumly as if it lead to her execution. A few faint

laughs could still be heard on the other side.

"Julia, wait. Pleas stay." He asked beseechingly. "I know you can't come

with me on the Dream Plane, but I would feel better knowing that you were

*here* with me holding my hand."

Putting words to action, he held out his hand to her. Not hesitating a

moment, Julia took it and sat down in the chair next to the cot. He laid

back down and gazed up at Julia, who gently squeezed his hand

reassuringly. They sat there in companionable silence for a while.

Gradually Alonzo's breathing slowed and deepened then his eyes fluttered

shut. He was asleep. Now hopefully, he would reach the Dream Plane and

encounter the Terrians.

Once more Alonzo found himself standing on the shimmering jerky desert

Dream Plane. For a place that had once terrified him, it was becoming like

his second home. He had missed it. He wondered what it must be like to

roam these ethereal plains for months on end as the Terrians did during

the winter hibernation season. If not for the emotional ties he'd forged

with Julia, he might had given into the desire to join the Terrians. If

only for a short while. Perhaps, one day he still would.

Scanning the horizon, Alonzo saw no sign of the Terrians, but he knew how

to fix that. All he had to do was send out his thoughts and call to them.

Closing his eyes he silently cast his cry of "I'm here" on the

metaphysical wind. Faintly he heard a reply from the distance. Then the

ground beneath him began to rumble softly. They were coming. He squatted

down and pressed his palms to the earth. On the Dream Plane there could be

no doubt that the planet was alive. He could feel its gentle pulsing, like

a heart beating.

He recalled the one time he had moved through the earth like a Terrian.

It had happened during the battle with the Dark Terrian for John

Danziger's soul. It had been exhilarating! To feel the planet accept you,

envelop you. He envied Mary's and Uly's genetic bond with the Terrians.

They would achieve a closeness to them he never would. But Mary had been

forced to chose between her divided soul and the emotional toll she paid

had been great. Was there a similar crossroads ahead for Uly?

Alonzo was drawn out of his revelry by three Terrians bursting forth from

the ground surrounding him. Smiling, he couldn't help but think of how

much the Terrians resembled giant corpses. What would an ancient Christian

had thought of them? That they were the dead walking the earth as a sign

that the End Times had begun? Hell, hadn't *he* thought the very same

thing when he'd first see them?

The Terrian were unable to grasp the humor behind the visions in his

mind, so they trilled quizzically at him canting their heads to one side.

Shaking his own head, he told them to "nevermind." It would take too long

to explain, and he doubted if even then they would grasp the beliefs

behind human theology. Most humans couldn't grasp it either.

One of them questioned him on his avoidance of them before now. Bracing

himself for their rejection and derision, he opened his memories to them.

Several long heartbeats passed afterwards, but nothing happened. Then the

one who had asked the question moved towards him and placed his huge

leathery hand on Alonzo's head as if giving him a benediction. *You did

not harm. You did not kill.* Alonzo looked up in amazement. Terrians

didn't make physical contact. Relief rushed through his soul. They didn't

blame him! He hadn't killed the Grendler. That was apparently a deciding

factor in their minds. But John had killed. Would they be willing to help

them find him and save him? Only one way to find out. He started to tell

them their situation and warn them of Gaal.

Devon and Morgan trudged into camp in the late afternoon. Uly was the

first out the door to greet them. He flew into his mother's arms and

choked her lovingly Devon swallowed the scolding about leaving the safety

of the dome. Instead she hugged him to her fiercely, closed her eyes and

breathed in his scent. *He still smells like my baby.* She thought

silently to herself. I didn't come all this way to find a cure for him,

only to have him snatched away by one madman to give to another and even

madder one.

"Didn't you bring Whelan back with you?"

Devon opened her eyes and sighed. Time to be a mother later, hopefully.

"No, Yale. Apparently this fox is afraid of wolves." She smiled at Bess

who was hugging and kissing her "brave" husband. "He did give me a map of

where Gaal's hideout is."

"Well, let's not tarry overlong outside." Yale said as he scanned the

surrounding woods with his optically enhanced eye. "Who knows who may be

observing us?"

Yale herded the group inside like a mother hen shooing her chicks back

into the safety of the coop. Inside, Devon scanned the chamber mentally

taking a head count. Someone was missing.

"Where's True?" She asked with only the barest hint of panic in her voice.

"She's in her bed sleeping. We caught her twice trying to sneak out of

camp. The last time she became hysterical. I sedated her so she could get

some rest and to make sure she stayed put."

"Good idea, Julia. Just make sure someone is with her at all times. I

don't want Gaal or a Grendler slipping in here and taking her."

"Zero's with her now."

Devon nodded her approval. Julia was turning out to be a good back up.

Devon could rely on her professionalism and logical approach to a

situation. She has also been given the unenviable duty of playing tie

breaker between Devon and Danziger. Not a job for the squeamish or faint

hearted, Devon mused ruefully.

"Alonzo, were you able to contact the Terrians?"

"Yes."

Irritated at the clipped reply she asked him sharply. "And...?"

"And they are aware of Gaal's escape. He's been killing them while they

hibernate."

"My God."

"Devon, they can't help us. They know less about fighting than we do.

Emotions like hate and revenge are totally alien to them." Alonzo got up

and began pacing the room. "I wouldn't go so far as to say they're

childlike, but they are very naive. At least when it comes to human ways.

I don't want to be a party to the stripping away of that innocence that is

so much a part of them."

"What are you trying to say?"

Alonzo ran his hand through his dark hair and took a deep breath. "There's

more at stake here than John's life, or our reaching New Pacifica. They

*are* learning about humans. If we fail to stop people like Gaal and

Reilly, the Terrians will start associating *all* humans with them and we

may just end up having to fight them too. I don't want to see that happen.

They mean too much to me."

"None of us wants that, Alonzo. So either way, we have to stop Gaal. That

should put an end to the question of whether we go after Danziger or not."

Devon's gaze went slowly about the room holding each person's eye briefly.

"So we have a map, now all we need is a plan. Anyone have any

suggestions?"

Everyone looked mutely at one another.

"I have an idea." Julia rose as she said this. "Only it would require

everyone to contribute in order for it to work."

"What did you have in mind?" Devon asked, very curious about what this

'contribution' was supposed to be.

"We know that Grendlers like human blood. What if it's more than them just

developing a taste for it? What if it's more of an addiction? That would

explain how Gaal keeps control of them."

"You mean that human blood acts like a narcotic on Grendlers?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I mean, Yale!"

"So they're a couple of ugly dope fiends! What's great about that?" Morgan

asked, shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes.

Devon, catching onto Julia's drift, answered for her. "It means they would

be loyal to whomever was supplying them with blood. We could effectively

bribe them. Is that what you had in mind, Julia?" Devon asked excitedly,

feeling hopeful with this glimmer of a plan.

"Exactly! If not bribe them, at least get them so 'drunk' they wouldn't

pose a threat to the rescue team."

"How much blood do you think that'd take?"

"That's the tricky part. I don't know much about Grendler physiology. But

I figure if I get a pint from everyone that would be enough to give them a

good buzz that would last long enough for us to get John out."

"Excellent plan, Julia, but how do you propose to deal with Gaal?"

Julia met Yale's gaze. Of all the colonists he was the one she felt

closest to. They both were both products of the Council and had been

viewed with suspicion by the others. He's scholarly background meant he

dealt with life more on a intellectual level than an emotional one. She

found his spiritual nature a bit perplexing but then, she'd been raised to

view the Council as her God.

"I thought I could be used as bait to draw him out and away from the

cave."

Alonzo jumped up and slammed his fist on the table. "NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

Julia was taken aback by the force of his objection. "Alonzo, it makes

logical sense...I'm something Gaal wants."

Alonzo was pale and trembling with fear. A wild look filled his eyes, as

if he were seeing something no one else could. "Screw logic! You aren't

going anywhere near Gaal or those Grendlers."

Sparks flew from Julia's eyes as she felt unfamiliar anger flush through

her veins. "Alonzo, I am just as much a part of this group as anyone else!

John needs our help and I'm going to do everything in my power to help

him! Even if it means risking my life for his! All of us owe him that

much!"

In the face of her sudden fury, Alonzo's had retreated. He lowered his

voice and spoke entreatingly to her. "Julia...you don't understand..."

"Then why don't you enlighten me?!" She spat out.

"What she proposes is risky Alonzo, but the best chance we have. We'll

take steps to ensure her safety." Devon interjected.

"It won't do any good! She'll still end up *dead*!" He cried out.

"What are you talking about? How do you *know* I'll be killed?"

"It was in my damn dream! The one you've been pestering me to tell you

about."

"What dream?" Devon demanded.

Alonzo moved around the table till he was standing in front of Julia. He

took her hand in his and stammered out his dream to her.

"In my dream, you were dying. You'd been shot. Where the collar bone meets

the neck. At the time I didn't realized that it was Gaal that had done

it." Choking on unshed tears, Alonzo pulled Julia to him by her collar and

laid his head on her shoulder. Hugging her tightly, he continued. "I

couldn't help you Julia. I didn't know what to do! There was so much

blood! You just laid there staring at me, helpless! And then I heard that

sick bastard laughing!"

Stunned and oblivious to their audience for a change, Julia stroked his

back and kissed his damp cheek.

Devon was confused by his emotional outburst. "Since when did you start

having premonitions?"

"The Gaal part came true, why not the Julia part? I'm not gonna watch her

die for real!"

"You don't know that it happens outside the cave, Alonzo. Maybe it will

happen if I don't go. Besides, I have to go. John will definitely need

medical care, and anyone who get injured during the rescue mission. Isn't

forewarned, forearmed?"

Looking concerned, Devon voiced another option that made her equally

nervous. "We could use the transmitter and contact Reilly. Maybe pretend

to make a deal with him." She pulled out the tiny pill shaped device and

held it up in front of her.

"NO!" Now it was Julia's turn to have a tantrum. "He's too cunning and

deceitful! I'd rather take my chances with Gaal. He doesn't have a small

army of ZEDs to back him up."

Devon and everyone else nodded in agreement. Yale reached out and took the

transmitter from Devon's hand and set it on the table.

"Then it's settled then." He said as he made a fist and brought his

metallic cyborg hand crashing down on the tiny device smashing it into

even tinier pieces. Julia sighed with relief.

*********

The rest of the evening and much of the night was spent on arguing over

who would comprise the rescue team. This type of sparing was Devon's

specialty. She got her way on all counts. The team included Alonzo,

Baines, Cameron, Julia, Magus, and herself. Julia was needed in case

anyone, especially Danziger, required medical attention. If Julia was

coming, Devon knew damn well there was no way to prevent Alonzo from

coming as well. Seeing how shakened his dream-visions had made him, she

couldn't deny him the right to come along.

Magus and Cameron were both level-headed and less likely to just

arbitrarily start shooting. That was the main reason she had left Walman

behind. He'd turned terribly hot-headed the past few weeks. Devon didn't

want to have to deal with a loose cannon *and* a homicidal maniac. He had

kicked up a fuss until she convinced him that she needed him to remain

behind as backup in case the rescue attempt failed and Gaal came after the

rest of the group. He fell silent at that and went off in a corner and

began to clean his gun. Baines came from a military background. He handled

a magpro better than anyone in the group. Plus his fuse wasn't nearly as

short as Walman's.

Devon had insisted on going because she felt it her duty. She *was* the

reason they all were here. That had been the hardest fight of all because

it put her up against Yale. She never could intimidate him nor could she

get him riled enough to throw him off guard. He finally relented when he

saw how determined she was to go. O'Neil had been her friend and Gaal had

killed him. Yale knew that she and John had formed a somewhat unorthodox

relationship that at first glance looked as if they could barely stand one

another's company. But he sensed that that was merely a ruse on both their

parts to cover up feelings that neither one was ready to admit to just

yet.

When he realized that Devon was adamant about going, he too had wanted to

come. After all he had military training as well. Since his memory block

had been removed the weapons aversion and other yale programs had failed

also. In his mind Devon was still the head-strong little girl charging off

in any direction that suited her without fear. He still tried to look out

for her. It was nice to know that his love and concern for her well-being

was real and not a part of his programing. She was his heart-child and

would always remain so. Without her he would never have gotten this second

chance at life.

Devon had vetoed Yale's coming. She wanted him here to take care of Uly

and the others if the rescue group didn't make it back. It would be Yale's

duty to move the group out and get them to the Elder's cave. Maybe once

there, he could persuade some of them to accompany the Eden group to New

Pacifica. They would need all the hands they could get to set up the

colony in time. She only hoped the Elder would forgive her for dumping her

problems on his door step. Something told her that he would.

So the Eden group had split up. The smaller group trudging through the

woods to hopefully save a life. The larger group remaining behind sitting

on pins and needles, praying for everyone's safe return. Both groups

trying not to think about the possibility of never setting eyes on the

other again.

Out of necessity, the small band followed a meandering route in silence.

Devon didn't want to take the chance of running into Gaal or his cohorts

en route to his den. So they avoided anything that remotely resembled a

path. They waded through the thick underbrush and squeezed between the

tightly packed trees and saplings. Baines lead the way with his gun armed

and held at the ready. His eyes constantly scanning. Devon came next with

her side arm tucked neatly in its holster as she concentrated on Whelan's

map searching for matching landmarks.

After Devon came Julia, who was lugging an extremely pared down medical

kit and a knapsack full of the precious containers of blood. She was

looking everywhere except behind her. Firstly because she knew that with

Alonzo at her back she didn't need to fear attack from that direction.

Secondly because she was still incredibly pissed off at him. Alonzo for

his part barely took his eyes off the rigid determined back of the woman

in front of him. Relying mainly on that sixth sense that all good pilots

seemed to possess to warn him of any danger.

Acting as rear guard came Magus and then Cameron. Both looked extremely

uncomfortable and hoped that they wouldn't prove Devon's trust in them as

foolish. Neither one had signed on this mission wishing for the chance to

play marine and either one would gladly trade places with Walman. Not that

they didn't care for Danziger or that they wouldn't do what they could to

help him. They were just plain scared. There was no way to deny such an

honest emotion, the best one could hope for was to try to use it to their

advantage by counting on it to keep them on their toes.

As they started to crest a small hillock, Devon grabbed Baines' arm and

motioned for the others to stop as well. Everyone moved in closer and

followed her lead when she crouched down. She indicted by pointing to the

map that their destination was on the other side of the hill. Slowly they

crept to the top. The leafs and twigs rustled and snapped beneath six sets

of elbows and knees. Devon swore to herself that they couldn't make

anymore noise if they had a marching band accompanying them.

Once at the top, Devon forgot her own rule about no talking.

"There's the cave." She whispered excitedly.

"Yeah, and there's the welcoming committee." Baines drawled as he pointed

to the two Grendlers squatting at the cave entrance. Then he raised the

large gun up and sighted down on them.

"Wait!" Devon hissed at him as she shoved his gun barrel to the ground.

"You might not get both of them. Or if you do, you might just succeed in

warning Gaal if he's inside."

"Might, might, might doesn't cut it, Devon!" He spat back. "We need to

take some action."

"Too bad there's not a back door." Cameron jested to cover his own anxiety

and to try to defuse the tension building between Devon and Baines.

Missing the jest, Devon pounced on the notion. "Maybe there is. Baines

you, Magus and Cameron stay here and keep an eye on the Grendlers. Alonzo,

you and Julia come with me."

The trio crept off and started to make a lazy bypass around the knoll

that the cave was built into. They searched for any hint of a secondary

port of entry with both their eyes and the scanner that Julia carried.

About a third of the way around they were getting discouraged of finding

such a miracle when Julia spotted what looked like a small landslide

partway up the knoll. They hiked up to it and spent about 20 minutes

clearing away the rocks and dirt. By now they were hot and sweaty despite

the chilly weather. All of a sudden Alonzo began to curse fluently in

several languages.

"All this trouble for a damn rabbit hole!"

"Let me see."

Devon moved past the pilot to look at what their efforts had revealed. She

saw a very small, very dark tunnel. Sure enough, a "rabbit hole" as Alonzo

said.

Staring at the hole, Devon refused to give in to the despair that hammered

at her from some traitorous corner of her soul.

"I could fit in there." She whispered, more to herself than to her

companions.

"Yeah, well, Danziger *won't*!" Alonzo shot back irritably as he slapped

dirt off his clothes.

"Could we enlarge it?" Julia asked.

Alonzo shook his sweaty dirt streaked face absently. "It would take too

long and be too risky. We'd have to worry about noise and cave ins."

"Julia you've been scanning the hill, are you certain it goes anywhere?"

Devon interjected as she motioned in the rabbit hole's direction.

Julia double checked the scanner's readings. "Yes...it's tight but it

opens up into a larger passageway after about 12 meters. Where that

passageway leads to I don't know. That's the extent of the scanner's

range."

"What about life signs?" Devon asked next as she stared at the hole that

appeared to shrink the harder and longer she gazed at it.

"Nothing. Something in the geological makeup of the bedrock here is

interfering with that function."

"Wonderful. It's like the planet is toying with us sometimes." Alonzo

grumbled.

"Okay, I'll go in, find Danziger and use the scanner to locate the main

entrance."

"Devon, I really think I should go. John might need immediate medical

care."

"No!"

Both Alonzo and Devon exclaimed in unison causing Julia to frown in

irritation.

"Julia, we can't risk our only doctor. Especially with Gaal hoping to get

his hands on you. I want you to go back with Alonzo and put your plan into

action so that when we're ready to head for the exit, we don't have to

worry about the Grendlers."

"Alright."

Devon peeled off her bulky outer coat so she would have more

maneuverability. She double checked her sidearm before slipping it into

its hostler. The scanner was also secured to her belt.

"Here, you should take the magpro." Alonzo held out the larger gun.

Devon waved him off. "No, it'd be too awkward in there. Besides, I've been

practicing with the pistol. I feel more comfortable with it."

"Remember, any trouble go ahead and signal us. We'll come running."

Alonzo patted her on the shoulder and blessed her with a wink. She smiled

at this unexpected return of his flirtatious nature.

Switching on her lumalight, Devon started the long cramped crawl into the

unknown interior. She tried not to cough as her progress stirred up the

dusty earth beneath her hands and knees. Pieces of gravel and dirt bit

into her palms and knees while her back was jabbed by the occasional

protrusion from above. The tunnel narrowed more and Devon was forced to

continue on laying on her belly and inching forward with her toes and

elbows. A growing feeling of claustrophobia compounded with her fear of

the dark had Devon on the verge of hyperventilating. She stopped, lowered

her head to her forearms and tried to moderate her ragged breathing.

She'd be all right so long as the tunnel didn't narrow any farther or

dead end. She didn't want to have to try to back out or get stuck. Stop

thinking so much Devon. To calm herself, she started to hum a song from

her childhood but stopped when she thought about the sound carrying.

Though it had felt like ages, in reality she'd only been in the restricted

space for about 10 minutes when it opened up into a larger passageway like

Julia had predicted. Devon scrambled to her feet and leaned against the

rock wall to give her trembling legs and jangled nerves a chance to

recover.

While Devon slowly made her way through the rabbit hole, Julia and Alonzo

were racing back to join the others. Once back, Alonzo went up to Baines

and patted his shoulder.

"So what have the two Dromios been up to?" Alonzo asked referring to the

Grendlers.

"Nothing much." Baines replied without looking up and continued to watch

them from his prone position under the cover of an evergreen shrub.

Cameron leaned over and joined the conversation. "Looks like they're

playing a game of some type. They've been tossing pebbles like dice and

moving those sticks around forming different patterns." He handed Alonzo

the jumpers so he could get a better look.

Just then the scared Grendler broke out in a raucous laughing fit while

the other squawked in displeasure. Annoyed at being laughed at, it picked

up the sticks and threw them at the other hitting it in its face. The

scare faced one promptly stopped laughing, let out a bellowing shriek of

rage and jumped on its assailant. They fell to the ground bellowing at,

drooling on, and smacking each other

"Charming pair." Alonzo commented dryly.

Looking around, Magus noticed that Devon had not returned with the other

two.

"Where's Devon?"

"We found a small tunnel that lead into the cave. Danziger won't fit, so

we came back to make sure that the front entrance is clear." Alonzo

explained.

"She went alone?!"

"Alonzo was too big and they both vetoed me going."

"What if she runs into Gaal?"

"We'll just have to hope that she won't."

"Well, time for me to go to work." Julia said as she unpacked a vial of

blood.

"What's the plan?"

"I hope to lure them away from the cave by letting them see what I have."

She motioned towards the knapsack as she said this. She took the one vial

and began to pour some blood into a smaller container. Alonzo picked up

the knapsack while she did this.

"I'm going with you." He stated flatly.

"No way! You'll scare them off waving that magpro around."

"Then I won't take it."

Alonzo handed the gun to Magus without breaking the staring contest he

was waging with Julia. Julia lost the contest when her gaze followed the

gun's transfer to Magus' hands. She fidgeted with a loose lock of hair and

made a grab for the knapsack. Alonzo refused to release it.

"If you're unarmed why go? It doesn't make sense!"

"You're the one making up the rules, Julia. You say no gun, I don't take a

gun. But there is no way you're going down there alone. I don't care if

you never speak to me again. I'd rather have you give me the cold shoulder

for the rest of this trip than to spend my whole life kicking myself in

the ass for not doing something I feel this strongly about."

"Alonzo, you don't understand. It's important that I appear alone and

harmless so they won't get suspicious."

"He's right, Julia." Baines piped in. "Those Grendlers can move pretty

fast when they want to. I doubt you could get away from two of them if

they decided to rush you. They could snap your neck before we got halfway

down there."

"Alright, alright! Only stay out of sight and downwind!"

Julia exclaimed as she shook her index finger at him. She gave the

knapsack an angry yank and Alonzo released it this time. She stormed off

down the hill without a backwards glance. Magus handed Alonzo the magpro

back. He gave the angry young doctor a decent lead and headed off behind

her staying close to cover.

The Grendlers stopped their wrestling match once Julia was sighted. They

both jumped up and took defensive stances. Julia held up her hands and

smiled nervously. She pretended to stumble and fall making sure that the

small container of blood she held in her hand rolled conveniently to one

of the Grendler's feet. The Grendler reached down and snatched it up as

the other one looked on quizzically. The container was opened, its

contents were sniffed, and then guzzled. The other Grendler roared and

thumped its greedy companion on the head to no avail. Once it got the

vial, it was already empty.

The empty container was thrown to the ground in disgust. Julia thought

they might go back to fighting again which wouldn't accomplish her goal.

Instead they appeared to fall into a deep discussion while casting

speculative glances her way. Alonzo didn't like the sly looks the

Grendlers were giving Julia. He prepared himself to sprint to her side if

the need arose. Then the smaller Grendler disappeared into the cave.

Julia sat up straighter and didn't have to fake the worried look she

wore. Was it going to get Gaal she wondered. That thought nearly sent her

scurrying for Alonzo's protection, pride or no pride. The missing Grendler

reappeared shortly after its sudden departure. Alone, but with its arms

full of miscellaneous items. They were going to attempt to trade with her

for more blood.

They conferred once more. In order to plan their strategy it seemed.

Maybe Bess would have been the better choice for this, since she had

dealings with Grendlers before. Only the thought of having to revive

Morgan every time he heard a noise was just too ridiculously mindboggling.

A coward Morgan might be, but he was loyal to Bess and he would not have

stayed behind while she endangered herself. Their plan hammered out, they

cautiously approached her making low gurgling noises that must have been

meant to sooth her.

Choosing to play the frighten lost human female to the hilt, Julia gave a

choked shriek then jumped up and ran deeper into the woods. Remembering to

take the knapsack with her. The shocked Grendlers recovered quickly and

took off after her eating up the ground with large loping strides that

didn't seem possible for such stubby legs. Although the one burdened with

the goods lagged behind the scare faced one a bit.

Daring to sneak a quick glance back, Julia noted that they were

uncomfortably close and getting closer still. Baines hadn't exaggerated

when he said they could move fast. Even with her increased lung capacity,

Julia was feeling the strain of trying to keep ahead. She began to

question whether this was such a good plan as real fear crept into her

mind. As a physician she knew what addicts were capable of if desperate

enough. Plus her own personal experience with addiction when she was

experimenting with Uly's DNA gave her first hand knowledge of what

extremes ethical people could be driven to. Seeing that they associated

with Gaal, she doubted if these two Grendlers represented the moral

backbone of the Grendler community to start with. She just hoped Alonzo

was able to keep up.

The minute Julia and the Grendlers bolted, Alonzo dropped all pretense of

trying to keep to cover. He broke out into a full gallop as he strove to

keep up with his quarry and dodge trees at the same time. As his gasping

lungs began to burn, Alonzo was filled with admiration for Julia's

physical prowess. He wondered just how much was due to genetic enhancement

and how much was due to having two slobbering Grendlers hot on her tail.

The weight of the magpro was slowing him down but he didn't dare drop it.

Knowing he couldn't keep this pace up much longer and not wanting to let

them get too far away, he hollered at Julia.

"Julia! Stop! I'll cover you from here!"

Hearing Alonzo's winded shout, Julia's mind understood his reasoning, but

had a difficult time getting her legs to comply. Logic didn't carry much

weight with one's instinct. Finally she managed to stop next to a large

sequoia sized tree.

Assuming a guarded posture, she turned to face her two pursuers. Only now

their attention was focused behind them on Alonzo. They started for him

growling menacingly. He raised the gun and shouted a warning for them to

stop. He was breathing so hard he was having trouble keeping them in his

sights. Not sure how far they had come Julia didn't want the sound of

gunfire to warn Gaal that they had found his sanctuary. Plus worried that

Alonzo might get one but not the other, Julia decided to drawn their

attention back to her.

"Wait!" She hollered. "Here's what you want! I'll give it to you! Just

leave him be!"

Julia held the knapsack high and shook it. Then she threw it at the

Grendlers' feet when they turned at the sound of her voice. Forgetting

both Alonzo and Julia the two fell on the sack and began to consume the

vials greedily. Each one fearful that the other would get more than its

fair share.

Watching the slurping Grendlers feed on the blood Julia was reminded of

the time she was forced to ingest Grendler blood to survive. She was

thankful that the addictive nature of human blood to Grendlers didn't work

in reverse. Cautiously she worked her way around the frenzied Grendlers to

join Alonzo. All past quarrels were forgotten as they embraced. Alonzo let

his gun drop as he hugged her to him tightly lifting her several inches

off the ground. With his eyes closed tight Alonzo whispered in her ear.

"I love you, Julia."

"I love you too, Alonzo."

The words came so free and easy to both of them, a bystander would never

be able to tell that this was the first utterance of those three words

either one had ever said to another person.

After several long personal moments, they parted and observed the effect

that that much human blood was having on the Grendlers. Like Julia

predicted, human blood acted as a narcotic. The gorged Grendlers sat

leaning against the tree in a drunken stupor sighing and belching contently.

"Boy, I bet they regret this in the morning." Alonzo joked.

Later, Alonzo could never say what it was that tipped him off. Whether it

was a snapped twig or if he recognized the surrounding area from his

vision. All he knew was that he threw Julia to the ground a milisecond

before the air where her head had been exploded. Several more shots

followed them as Alonzo sent them rolling towards the safty of a fallen

tree. He cried out in pain as one shot found its home in his leg.

"They're going to regret it sooner than that, pilot."

Gaal then pointed the gun at the Grendlers and let loose a barrage of gun

fire into their bodies.

"You two have disappointed me for the last time."

He then turned his attention back to the human couple.

"Step away from him doctor, I don't want to hit you by accident like I

nearly did earlier. You're too valuable to me at the moment. Thank you Mr.

Solace for looking out after my interests."

The harder Alonzo tried to push her away from him the harder Julia clung.

This time it was her shielding him with her body. Sighing with irritation,

Gaal walked towards them. He only got about 4 paces when several wild gun

shots whizzed by him as Baines, Cameron, and Magus came crashing through

the woods firing as they ran. Realizing he was way out numbered, Gaal

snarled and took off in the opposite direction. Baines and Cameron hot on

his heels. Magus stopped to help Julia and Alonzo.

"Did you bring my medical kit?"

Magus handed the kit to Julia who opened it with shaking hands and took

out her diagnostic glove.

"How badly is he hurt?"

"I don't know yet."

Julia answered worriedly as she torn open his pant leg. Alonzo cried out

and grabbed his leg protectively.

"Damn it! The *same* leg! Why does it have to be the *same* leg all the

time, Julia?!"

**********

Devon felt her way around another turn in the dank corridor. Her heart

thumped wildly in her chest creating an answering echo that pounded in her

ears. As if they couldn't' t get enough of the stagnant air, her lungs

took in great gulpfuls. She longed to give into her childish fears and run

pell-mell through the cave hollering for Danziger at the top of her lungs.

Clamping down on her fears, she forced her legs to a slow and steady pace.

It wouldn't do anyone any good if she fell and hurt herself in this dark

unfamiliar lair. Only she wish she could at least have the false comfort

of her lumalight, but it would merely draw attention and make her an easy

target. That was the last thing Devon wanted.

The narrow passageway dipped down and opened into a larger room-like

chamber. A small shaft of light penetrated a crack in the rock cathedral

ceiling casting the chamber in an eerie twilight. The room was filled with

debris from branches and leaves to rages and pieces of equipment that

looked as if it belonged to the Eden Advance. The chamber was haphazardly

decorated with stalactites and stalagmites of varying shapes and sizes.

The floor was also littered with rocks and boulders that had originally

been part of the the ceiling.

Satisfied that neither Gaal or Grendlers were lurking in the chamber,

Devon entered. The room was cast in enough shadows that she wanted to make

sure that Danziger wasn't here before she retraced her steps to where the

passageway had branched off to the left a while back. If she was really,

really lucky Danziger would be here, alive, and capable of self mobility

so they could get the hell out of this rat's nest. Devon had covered three

fourths of the chamber's perimeter and was about to give up and head back

to the other passageway. Devon managed to keep her balance when the rock

wall she had been running her hand along as she walked just disappeared.

The shadows were deeper in this part of the chamber and this smaller

chamber hadn't been visible until she had practically fallen through it.

It was pitch black in there and the stench emanating from it made all the

previous odors smell like pot pourri. Devon took a few moments to calm her

gagging reflex before entering. She also decided to risk turning on her

lumalight. The looming blackness seemed to devour the tiny beam of light.

Devon moved the light across the ceiling, the walls, and finally the

floor.

It was then that she discovered why the stench was foulest in this small

chamber. The one side of the floor was cluttered with bones and partially

decomposed bodies. There was a mixture of animal, Grendler, and Terrian

bones. Devon quickly averted her gaze and the light from that corner.

Farthest back in the chamber, her light slid across a large lump. In the

dark she first dismissed it as another boulder, but then the light caught

a glint of gold. Concentrating the light on it, Devon felt both relief and

dread wash through her soul. She recognized those dirty golden curls

anywhere.

Hesitantly she walked over to the unmoving form of John Danziger. He laid

on his left side facing the wall. His wrists and ankles were bound. That

meant he had to be alive. You don't tie up corpses. Unless he'd been

brought here alive and died later....

"John?" Devon whispered.

Getting no response, she reached out and shook his shoulder gently and

repeated his name once more, a little louder. Still no response.

Swallowing hard and bracing herself for the worst, she rolled him over.

Prepared or not, a horrified gasp still escaped Devon's mouth at the sight

that greeted her. Dried blood from a gash behind his left ear had caked in

his matted hair. His face was puffy and discolored. She doubted he'd be

able to open his left eye as swollen as it looked. His bottom lip was

split, and his nose looked broken. What had Gaal done? Tied Danziger up

and stomped on his face?!

She laid her hand on his chest. To her relief she felt it rise and fall,

and his heart thumping steadily beneath it. There was an ugly wound on his

collar bone. It appeared to be some type of claw mark. His wrists were so

tightly bound that his hands had swollen and turned an lurid purple.

Tucking the gun in her belt and setting the light down, she removed her

utility knife and began to carefully cut away the cords from his wrists

and then his ankles. He had remained unconscious for the entire time it

took her to complete this task.

Taking his hands in hers, she began to rub them briskly in order to warm

them and to get his circulation flowing to them again. As she did this his

torn left sleeve fell back exposing a long cut, as if someone had taken a

knife and sliced into him. Why didn't he wake up? *Please don't let him be

in a coma!* The thought of inflicting anymore pain on him appalled her, so

she didn't try to revive him by slapping him. Instead she continued to rub

his hands and forearms. "John! Please wake up!"

Danziger's body jerked and he moaned in pain. "Aaaw...no

more...please..." Devon felt renewed hope. "John, it's Devon. Get up! We

have to get out of here!" Danziger turned his head and opened his one good

eye. He blinked several times before he could bring her into focus. He

swallowed before croaking out her name. "Devon...."

That one word was full of emotion. He reached out his hand and cupped her

cheek in it. Trying to verify that she wasn't just a pain induced fantasy

by making physical contact. Tears threatened Devon again as she stroked

the hand that cupped her cheek. "It's okay, John. It's really me. Come on

let's get out of here."

Danziger sunk his hand into her thick auburn hair. He seemed more aware

of his surroundings. Again he said her name. Then he curled his hand into

a tight fist and yanked her towards him by the hair until their faces were

mere inches apart. "Ow! John you're hurting me!"

"Devon?! What are you doing here?!" He hissed out. "Are you nuts?! Get out

of here! Break camp and run like hell!" Devon untwisted his hand from her

hair and glared back at him. "NO! I won't abandon you! I'm responsible for

too many lost lives as it is. Now get up! You're going to have to walk out

on your own power, I can't carry you out of here!"

Beaten, weak and disheartened Danziger tried to roll back towards the

wall already resigned to his fate. Devon jerked him back, no longer

concerned if she hurt him or not. "I'm not going back to that camp and

tell True that I *saw* her dad, he was *alive*, but I *left* him there!"

She twisted his shirt in her fists and tried to pull him up to a sitting

position to no avail. "Listen to me, John Danziger and listen good! If I

leave you here to die, you can forget it if you think I'm going to look

after your brat! I'll give her to the Martins to raise! Think about that

for a moment! Your True calling Morgan Martin 'daddy!'"

Devon had been shaking him the entire time. A meaty hand came up and

engulfed her fists. Danziger squeezed them just hard enough that she got

the message to stop. He glared at her, his jaw muscles clenching and

unclenching. "You're a real bitch, Adair. Ya know that?"

"Yup, one of the biggest! How do you think I got us this far?" She waved

her hand about in a royal yet sarcastic gesture. "Now are you coming?"

"Okay, help me up. I don't think I can walk though. They pounded me pretty

hard. My legs have been tied up for so long I can't feel them."

Bracing her feet apart, Devon tried to help leverage him up. Groaning in

pain, he managed to stand. He was swaying slightly but was vertical. Devon

pushed him against the wall in an effort to steady him when it looks as if

he was about to pitch forward. Because of his injuries and blood loss,

Danziger's eyes rolled back in his head as he started to lose

consciousness again.

"No! John you can't faint! You got to help me here!"

Danziger nodded and leaned against the wall once more. "I'm okay. Just

give me a moment, alright?"

"We don't have a moment, John." Slowly, painfully they moved across the

floor to the outer chamber. Devon alternatively giving words of

encouragement and threats.

"I just hate it when guests arrive unannounced."

Devon looked up to see Gaal blocking the way. She reached for her gun but

it wasn't in her holster. *Damn! Where was it?!* Looking down, she saw it

lying on the floor a few feet from her. It must have been knocked out of

her belt when she was struggling to get Danziger out of the smaller

chamber. Now she faced a dilemma. Stand there holding up Danziger and let

Gaal kill them. Or make a grab for the gun and and let Danziger fall to

the floor at the risk of further injuries?

Gaal advanced towards them grinning his death's head grin. Making her

decision, Devon let go of Danziger and lunged for the gun. Her fingers

started to close around the butt when Danziger toppled down onto her,

knocking both the wind out of her, and the gun from her reach. She

struggled to free herself from beneath Danziger dead weight. Gaal rushed

up to her and grabbed her by her scarf and dragged her across the floor

putting the gun even farther from her. Devon quickly scrambled to her feet

and spun around to face her attacker. Only that caused the scarf to

tighten even more.

Gaal slammed her against the wall. Clawing at his fingers, she knew she

didn't have much time before she lost consciousness. Gaal's harsh

breathing echoed in her ears as well as her own feeble gasps for air. He

leaned into her pressing his body against hers forcing what little air she

had left from her burning lungs. Gaal's fetid breath caressed her cheek.

She felt something prodding her. Gaal had become sexually aroused during

their struggle. He rubbed himself against her as he slowly squeezed the

life out of her.

A rage built within Devon. She stopped wasting her energy to loosen his

hands and instead brought her knee up and drove it hard into his offending

groin. Gaal's mouth opened on a silent scream and he fell to the floor

clutching himself. Devon collapsed to her knees and took deep gulps of

air. She crawled over to Danziger. Snarling, Gaal grabbed her ankle and

dragged her back towards him. Flipping over onto her butt, she brought her

free foot up and smashed the heel of her boot into his face. Gaal's nose

exploded in a shower of blood. Howling with pain and rage, he flailed

about blindly for her.

"You BITCH!" He screamed. "I'm going to make you *beg* me to kill you!"

Devon slide backwards along the floor on her rear, trying to avoid his

grasping hands. Her own hand brushed across a cool familiar metal object.

Gaal had stumbled into Danziger's inert form and began to kick him

viciously in the stomach and ribs.

"Stop it or I'll kill you!"

Gaal turned to see Devon sitting on the floor with her gun aimed at him.

He made a laughing snort and wiped his bloody face on his filthy sleeve.

"You won't shoot, you're too hung up on virtues. You don't have the

balls."

He turned back to Danziger and drew his foot back to deliver a final

death kick to the unconscious man's head. A shot rang out and reverberated

around the chamber. Gaal was thrown against the wall by the impact. Slowly

he turned around until his back was against the wall. He stared

incredulously at the bloody wound in his shoulder. His left arm hung

useless as his side. Looking up at Devon, he started to say something when

she pulled the trigger again striking his chest. He slowly slide to a

sitting position on the floor and slumped over. He didn't move. Neither

did Devon. She sat there frozen with her gun extended staring at the pile

of rags and flesh that had been Gaal. Her shocked mind could not accept

what she'd just done.

"Devon...Devon put down the gun."

Either Gaal's blows had had the strange effect of reviving Danziger or

the sound of the gunfire had penetrated his mind causing him to rouse

himself to come to Devon's aid if possible. He crawled across the floor to

her. Gently he pried her fingers from around the gun. Devon gazed at him.

Her grief stricken face slowly collapsed inward on itself. He pulled her

to him and laid her head on his uninjured shoulder. Held in his embrace,

she sobbed. He stroked her hair and spoke to her as if she were a child

who'd just awakened from a bad dream. "Shhh...it's okay...it's all over

now...the monster's gone now."

Danziger heard the sound of running feet headed this way. He hefted the

handgun and waited to see who or what emerged from the passageway. Baines

and Julia came rushing in. Relieved he lowered the gun.

"We heard shots! Who's wounded?!" Julia demanded.

Baines saw Gaal's body first. Looking at Danziger and the gun he held in

his hand, he wrongly surmised that Danziger had shot Gaal. "You shot him!"

"No, I did." Devon had managed to pull herself together, although she

refused to look at the body on the floor. "Come on lets get out of here.

Baines help John out."

"Are you sure he's dead?" Julia asked as she reluctantly headed for him.

"Did you check his respiration and pulse?"

Danziger quickly grabbed her arm to stop her from examining Gaal. "He's

*dead*. Let's keep it that way, huh?"

Julia stared at John for a moment while she waged a medical ethics battle

with herself. This murderer could possibly be still alive and

resuscitative. It was her duty as a doctor to make every effort to save

everyone, regardless of who or what they were. By performing her medical

duty, she would endanger the group once more. Gaal would not give up or

chance his ways. She had been asked once before to ignore ethics in the

interest of the greater good. In the end she didn't comply with that

request. How was this situation different? *The difference was these

people had never lied to you. Had never used you. They gave you a sense of

family for the first time. Gave your life something other than a duty to

fulfill.* Making up her mind she nodded and headed out of the cave.

*******

Even with her enhanced genes, Dr. Julia Heller's patience was wearing

thin. It was hard enough dealing with the entire camp hovering around her

and Danziger, but True had latched onto her father the moment they'd

returned to camp and refused to let go of him. So Julia was having a heck

of a time separating her readings from her father's.

"Sit still! *Both* of you."

"How badly is he injured?" Devon inquired. "When can he travel?"

"Not for several days. I've given him some of the bone healer vaccine I

developed for Alonzo to treat his broke ribs. I've reset his nose and

treated his lacerations and concussion. He's badly dehydrated, plus

bruised over most of his body."

"Other than that I'm fine, huh doc?" Danziger laughed at his own feeble

attempt at humor and winced in pain for his efforts.

"You'll be turning some interesting colors over the next few days, that's

for sure!" She bandied back trying to give him a stern look but failing.

Everyone broke out in loud chuckles and big smiles as the tension of the

past few days melted away. Julia finished with her ministrations and gave

him a sedative so he could sleep through most of the healing process and

sent him to bed. Then she moved on to check how Alonzo was doing. She

shared his concern over the repeated injuring of the same leg. If this

kept up, she couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't develop a permanent limp.

Devon's physical injuries were slight, a few scraps and bruises. How much

Gaal's death had cost her psychologically only Devon could say and she

avoided or changed the topic everytime it was brought up. She sat there

quietly hugging Uly on her lap rocking him and placing occasional kisses

on his head. Like most young boys Uly was caught up in the story and was

thrilled that his mother was the "hero". The celebrations would have to

wait till tomorrow. Everyone was nearly dead on their feet either from

physical or mental exhaustion or some combination of both. As Devon stood

to take Uly to bed, Walman approached her nervously.

"Um Devon, do you have a minute?"

"Sure, Walman. Uly you go on I'll be right there."

"Devon, I uh, I want to apologize for what I said a couple days ago. I

don't know why I said those things. I didn't mean them. They just sorta

popped out. You've doing a great job as leader. You proved that today. I'm

sorry."

"We both said thing we didn't mean that day Walman. You were scared and

concerned about Danziger. You're a good friend. I'm glad you're here. I'd

just like to forget the past few days and put it all behind me, how about

you?"

"Yeah, sounds good to me. Goodnight, Devon."

"Goodnight, Walman."

~*~

After laying in bed for several hours unable to sleep, Devon got up.

Being careful not to rouse Uly, she padded to the door of their sleeping

quarters and quietly slipped out. At first she didn't know where she was

going, only that she was too agitated to sleep. She looked at the door to

Julia and Alonzo's room. Should she disturb Julia for a sleeping aid?

Thinking over the past few days events and the number of people the doctor

had treated unceasingly, Devon decided it best to let Julia get some much

needed rest.

Nor did she want to go outside and answer a bunch of questions from

whomever was on watch now. She was trying to forget what had happened not

relive it. Aimlessly circling the main room, Devon found herself standing

in front of the Danzigers' door. Maybe she should check on him. Carefully

she pulled open the door a crack, and poked her head around it to see if

they were asleep. Hearing only deep steady breaths, she entered.

Now that she was in the room, Devon couldn't fathom why she was there.

But for some reason, she found it comforting to watch the sleeping pair.

Daughter cradled in father's arms. Danziger's appearance had improved

overall in the last few hours. The puffiness in his one eye had receded.

His nose was straighter and less swollen. Julia was right about one thing

though, he had started to turn some interesting shades of purple, green,

and black. Well at least he was safe and getting some rest. Devon forced

herself to look away from the slumbering pair. She turned towards the door

and put her hand on the knob.

"What's the matter, Adair? Making sure I haven't snuck off again?"

Danziger's voice sounded more gravelly then usual and slightly slurred.

Most likely a side effect of the various drugs Julia had administered.

Devon put what she hoped was a congenial smile on her face and tried to

appear unfazed by the piercing stare of the battered mechanic.

"Oh, you're awake. Julia said the sedative would make you sleep till

morning."

"Yeah well, Julia didn't figure a restless sleeping kid into her

calculations."

Just as he finished that statement, True tossed in her sleep, and planted

her elbow into her father's newly healed ribs. Danziger jumped then

stiffened in pain. He bit down on an oath, and let out a long hissing

breath from between his clenched teeth. A concerned Devon rushed to his

side.

"Maybe I should move her back to her own bed. You aren't in the best

condition to be playing human mattress tonight." She leaned down and

reached out to pick up the sleeping girl. Danziger reached out and grabbed

Devon by her forearm.

"That's okay. It reminds me I'm alive and not dreaming."

Startled by the unexpected physical contact, Devon straightened up.The

motion caused her arm to be pulled through Danziger's gripping hand. The

friction caused little shivers to race up and down her body. It felt

incredibly like a caress.

"Cold?" He asked softly watching her intently still holding her by the

wrist.

"Uh, yeah. It is a bit chilly tonight."

Devon made a big show of rubbing her upper arms briskly with her hands.

The unexpected touch and now its absence reminded her how seldom John ever

touched her. Devon was naturally physically reserved, except when it came

to Uly or Yale, but Danziger was always slapping somebody on the shoulder,

the back or giving someone a friendly hug. Everyone but her it seemed

like. Why didn't he try to touch her more often?

*Whoa!* Where did that thought come from?! Why should she crave physical

contact with this man? She was only interested in him for what he could do

for the survival of the group. Besides, he never listened to her and she

couldn't control him. *Ah, but that's what's so appealing about him, isn't

it, Devon?*

"I was just checking in on you for Julia. Is there anything I can get you?

Anything you need?" Devon asked as she backed up slowly to the door.

Reaching behind her she felt the cool hard metal of the knob in her hand.

"No, I have everything I need, right here."

"You mean True."

"True's a part of it."

Nervous and not liking the direction this conversation was taking Devon

started to open the door. "Do you want me to wake up Julia so she can give

you another sleep aid?"

"No. So do you want to talk about it?"

"Talk about what?"

"About what happened. You killing Gaal. I'm the only other person here

who's killed anyone other than Yale and he really doesn't remember it

first hand. Isn't that why you're here?"

A denial was about to come out of her mouth when she reconsidered and

took up her nervous pacing once more. Danziger watched her patiently

allowing her time to collect her thoughts. She finally stopped with her

back to him so he couldn't see her unsuccessful battle with her tears.

"Did you enjoy it?" She whispered.

"No." This was not what Danziger had expected. "When I killed Katrina I

felt relief that I had gotten to her before she was able to harm you. I've

never regretted it. The Grendler is another story. That was a stupid

mistake. One I hope desperately to never make again."

"Then I'm no better than Gaal."

"Devon, what are you talking about? Come here and sit down." The woman

remained where she was lost in her own thoughts. "Devon don't make me get

up, I still hurt like hell. You're a helluva lot better than Gaal."

Devon shuffled to the chair by Danziger's bed. She sat on the edge with

her hands clasping her knees and her back ramrod straight. Her eyes fixed

on the ring she wore on her left hand. "When I shot him the first

time...it felt good. I wanted to laugh. I didn't...I shouldn't have pulled

the trigger a second time. I believed I was somehow morally superior to

him, but I was just deluding myself." She finally met Danziger's gaze. "I

*enjoyed* killing him, John. I was *glad* I did it. Now how am I suppose

to live with that?"

Danziger placed his hand over hers and squeezed gently. "There *is* a

difference between you and Gaal. He killed out of sheer pleasure. Do you

want to kill again?"

She shook her head no, and he continued. "Now I don't know who or what

made Gaal the way he was. I only know we didn't have anything to do with

it and we didn't deserve to have to pay the price for it by constantly

looking over our shoulders. There was nothing we could do to help him.

That man tried to take your son from you, tried to kill your friends,

tried to kill you. Hell, if I could have *I* would have killed him and I

probably would have enjoyed it too. That doesn't make us like Gaal. That

just shows us we have a dark part to our souls. That struggle to overcome

our inner darkness is part of being human. Gaal failed to overcome his

darkness. Others may disagree with me, but by giving in to his evil nature

Gaal ceased being human. He became something else. I don't know what. Not

an animal. Animals don't kill for sport. What did you say Whelan called

him? A demon? Maybe that was what he became."

Devon lifted her right hand to her cheek and wiped a tear away. Then she

laid her hand on top of his. "Gee John, you've been holding out on me. I

didn't know you had a philosophical side."

"I didn't use to. Must be the company I've been keeping lately. Tell me

something Devon. Would you really have given True to the Morgans?"

Devon chuckled. "It was the only thing I could think of to get you up and

going. No, I wouldn't have. Poor Morgan wouldn't survive past a day."

"No he wouldn't." Danziger smiled as he stroked his child's cheek. "We

need to talk Devon."

"I thought we were talking."

"I mean about us."

"Us?" Devon couldn't quite help her voice from squeaking. "You mean 'us'

as in the group, right?"

"No, us as in you and me."

Devon pulled her hands free of his and slide back in the chair. "There is

no 'us' in that respect." She said neutrally.

"I know. That's what I want to talk about. I had a lot of time to think

while I was waiting to die in that stinking cave."

"John, you've been through a traumatic experience and you're under

medication. Don't say something you don't really mean or will regret

saying later."

"I could never afford the luxury of regrets before." He mused quietly.

"Always been working too hard, trying to take care of True. Before long

she won't need me to take care of her. Hell, she doesn't think she needs

me now! I keep thinking of that time approaching and when it happens, I

don't want to face it alone."

"I know that feeling too. I've been having it more and more since Uly's

been cured."

"That's why we need to talk."

Devon stood up before he could continue. "I can't deal with this now

John."

"You don't know what I'm going to say."

"I don't want to know, not now. I need time. There's just too much to cope

with right now. Can we have this discussion later?" Devon had made her way

back to the door.

"When?" He demanded refusing to let her escape so easily.

"Later...sometime."

"Goodnight, Devon. Don't forget, I'm just as hard headed as you. I

wouldn't let this slide. We *will* continue this talk."

"Yes, we will. Later. Goodnight John. Thanks for being so hard headed."

She said as she slipped out the door.

"You're welcome."

END